Vendor misprint sends wrong IDs to thousands of Michigan residents
Built World Grand Rapids, MI local8,200 enhanced licenses and IDs had stock photos and wrong birth dates
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Overview
Updated 2 hours agoAbout 8,200 Michigan residents opened their mail this week. Inside was a driver's license with a stock photo and a date of birth that wasn't theirs.
The cards, printed Aug. 26 by the state's vendor Idemia, carried the wrong information in the lower-right corner. Corrected cards are already in the mail, and affected residents don't need to do anything. The misprint is a quality-control failure in a supply chain Michigan relies on for millions of identity documents a year.
Why it matters
One vendor error put wrong photos on 8,200 government-issued IDs, and Michigan's identity system depends on that single private company.
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People Involved
Organizations Involved
The Michigan Department of State issues driver's licenses, state IDs, and vehicle registrations for Michigan residents.
Idemia is a French company that produces identity documents for governments worldwide, including driver's licenses.
Timeline
August 2026 September 2026
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WOODTV reports on misprint
Today MediaLocal news outlet covers the vendor error and state response
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State announces misprint
StatementMichigan Department of State says corrected cards are in the mail
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Residents receive misprinted cards
DiscoveryAffected Michigan residents begin receiving cards with incorrect information
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Idemia prints misprinted batch
ProductionVendor produces about 8,200 enhanced licenses and IDs with stock photos and wrong birth dates
Historical Context
2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
Healthcare.gov launch (2013)
The federal health insurance website failed at launch, with most users unable to sign up. The site was built by multiple contractors with poor coordination, leading to a months-long fix.
The site was eventually fixed, but the botched launch became a political liability for the Obama administration.
The failure led to reforms in how the federal government manages IT contracts.
Healthcare.gov showed the risk of government reliance on contractors, a dynamic also visible in Michigan's ID production.
California REAL ID rollout (2019)
California's DMV struggled to roll out new REAL ID cards, with long delays, system errors, and some cards arriving with printing mistakes. The state had contracted with multiple vendors to produce the new cards.
Californians faced long waits and some received incorrect cards, leading to public frustration.
The state eventually resolved the issues, but the rollout became a cautionary tale about government ID production.
Like Michigan's misprint, California's REAL ID issues showed how state ID production depends on vendors and can fail in visible ways.
