Vince Fong, a Bakersfield Republican and frequent critic of the DMV, posted his comments in a Facebook video.
Fong and fellow Assembly Republican Jim Patterson have been publicly blasting the agencies over the errors that resulted in the DMV sending the Secretary of State's Office some 23,000 erroneous drivers' records. They've also cited the chronic long lines at DMV offices across the state as the agency tries to process Real ID applications. Fong and Patterson have noted that the state has had years to prepare for the Real ID requirements and that the DMV has been allocated tens of millions of dollars for technology to accommodate the demand.
Shiomoto and Tong wrote to Secretary of State Alex Padilla earlier this month, vowing to more carefully check Californians' information before sending it to his office.
"Before each batch of Motor Voter files is transmitted to your office, a representative sample ... will be selected, reviewed and certified manually," Shiomoto and Tong wrote in a letter to Padilla on Oct. 12. "This will ensure that only those persons who have attested to their eligibility to vote under California law are transmitted to your office."
In his Facebook post Tuesday, Fong said:
"Today, as the Vice Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, I am officially calling for the resignation of the head of the DMV, Jean Shiomoto, and the head of the Department of Technology, Amy Tong. Over the past few months, we have seen story after story about the incompetence and system failures at the DMV. I believe both agencies need to be held accountable and desperately need new leadership to right the ship. ...
"Recently, we have also learned that tens of thousands of people were incorrectly registered (to vote) after they had visited the DMV. It was also discovered that thousands of non-eligible individuals were added to the voter rolls. ... We can only regain the trust of the public with new leadership at the DMV and the Department of Technology."
The Assembly defeated a measure calling for an audit of the DMV, but Gov. Jerry Brown subsequently instructed the state Department of Finance to conduct one, which it has begun.
