LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A vendor error led to roughly 8,200 Michigan residents receiving misprinted enhanced driver’s licenses or state identification cards.

The Michigan Department of State, headed by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, attributed the mistake to its vendor, IDEMIA. The error affected a batch of licenses and IDs printed on Aug. 26.

The cards included a stock photograph and generic date of birth in the lower-right corner instead of the cardholder’s photograph and birthdate. State officials said the generic information did not belong to another Michigan resident.

Gubernatorial showdown.

The campaign of Benson’s opponent, Republican nominee John James, blasted her over what it called “incompetence.”

“Maybe if [Benson] wasn’t so busy profiting off data centers and blocking citizen-only voting, she could perform her basic duties as Michigan’s secretary of state,” James campaign press secretary Alivia Bailey said.

Bailey added, “Her voting rules continue to lose in court, at least 16 noncitizens voted on her watch, and now her office is misprinting driver’s licenses.”

Benson has denied that she or her family profits from Michigan data-center projects.

IDEMIA errors in another Democratic-led state

This is not the first time IDEMIA, a France-based identity-security company, has faced scrutiny. Problems involving the company came to light in New Jersey in July, when Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer called for a government-wide audit of every federal contract involving IDEMIA.

New Jersey officials linked the company’s technology to an error that resulted in approximately 6,600 noncitizens being improperly added to the state’s voter rolls. IDEMIA disputed that characterization, saying its system correctly recorded the applicants as noncitizens and that state election officials were responsible for verifying voter eligibility.

Michigan’s contracts with IDEMIA

Public records show that the State of Michigan has at least two active contracts with IDEMIA: one for statewide applicant fingerprinting services and another for the Michigan State Police’s automated biometric identification system. The contracts are scheduled to expire March 31, 2027, and June 13, 2027, respectively.

The Michigan Department of State said corrected licenses and IDs have been mailed automatically to affected residents. Anyone with questions can contact the department.