City of Detroit creating municipal ID program

DETROIT (WJBK) - The city of Detroit has unveiled a new municipial program designed to assist people who need help getting IDs.

The munipical ID card will serve a large sector of the population that does not have identification, and therefore no access to city services such as libraries or banking.

"Because it would be a government-issued ID from the City of Detroit, ideally it would be accepted for voting purposes as well," says council member Raquel Castañeda-López.

Many of these individuals lack proper government identification and being able to track old identification, like birth certificates and social security cards, are very burdensome on the homeless population," says council member Mary Sheffield. 

The City of Detroit is expecting the program to begin sometime early next year. Countil says they have the support needed from the mayor's office.

Several states already have similar programs. Also, Washtenaw County started a munipical ID program earlier this summer that was received very well. In just 23 days, more than 800 people signed up.

The card would not be mandatory.