Michigan Secretary of State Expands Online Services

The lines at the Secretary of State can be so long you often feel like you should pack a lunch before you leave the house. Now you don't even have to leave the house.

The Secretary of State has expanded their website, ExpressSOS.com, to allow Michigan residents to complete even more transactions online according to a Secretary of State release.

The expansion now allows people to:

• Renew or replace standard state driver's licenses and identification cards.
• Change addresses.
• Order multiple copies of vehicle registrations and titles.

The expansion is in addition to other previously offered online services including renewing vehicle plates.

"By expanding online, we are able to transform the way we serve our customers," Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said in the release. "This news means more convenience for our clients while alleviating lines at our branch offices so that our employees can provide even better service."

"Secret shoppers" who visited branch offices reported long waits and the new tool promises to help bring wait times down according to the release.

Kurt Weiss, of the Michigan Department of Technology, helped develop the new tool and said it took about three months to complete.

"We tested it in a soft launch and the tests when very well, and so we felt very comfortable in making the public announcement," Weiss said.

The Secretary of State also plans to allow for more online transactions in the furture, so "residents with an enhanced license or ID card will be able to renew it or request a duplicate card online after heightened security measures associated with these documents are completed" according to the release.

In addition, the department plans to upgrade software at local branches allowing staff to respond more quickly to clients.