In a breaking report, former Maine BMV examiner John Morin exposed systematic cheating on written driver’s permit tests by non-English-speaking immigrants. According to Morin, the interpreters provide answers rather than just translate questions as they are supposed to.
The brave examiner claims an almost 100% pass rate for interpreter-assisted tests exists, with that being contrasted by a just 70% pass rate for English speakers who are not aided by such interpreters, and complaints are ignored or punished by superiors under Secretaries Matt Dunlap and Shenna Bellows.
For context, Morin quit after being disciplined for reporting an incident. State officials deny widespread cheating, say allegations are taken seriously, and claim no proof has been found or whistleblowers punished, despite the damning evidence.
Explaining the corruption, John Morin, former BMV examiner, noted, “I had to quit that job because of all of the cheating going on with people from overseas that was happening regularly. I would witness up to 10 or 12 Class C permits a day being issued by us.”
Building on this point, the courageous investigator kept going. “I wrote him up and sent a referral for criminal prosecution to our detectives at BMV, and I was written up for writing him up. This was after many, many attempts by me to clean up the cheating over the course of my time at BMV.”
Still not done, he described the tragic situation facing other investigators. “Examiners over my time there have brought this up with our superiors many, many times, only to be told that there is no cheating going on, or ‘How do we know that there is cheating going on?’” he asked.
Additionally, he noted, “Examiners over my time there have brought this up with our superiors many, many times only to be told that there is no cheating going on or ‘how do we know that there is cheating going on?’ All examiners who deal with this in person day-to-day know that there is cheating going on.”
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“The Secretary of State’s office, which runs BMV, will always cover for these illegal and unsafe practices,” he alleged. “I saw this personally from the time that Matt Dunlap was Secretary of State to Shenna Bellows’ time there.”
Describing the incident which prompted me to leave Morin, he clarified, “I finally had to leave that job when I wrote up a cheating interpreter for the applicant that he came in with… I wrote him up and sent a referral for criminal prosecution to our detectives at BMV, and I was written up for writing him up.”
Reacting to the allegations, Deputy Secretary of the BMV Catherine Curtis, claimed, “I’m aware of complaints in the past that we have addressed, that we’ve investigated and we could not find substantial evidence, proof that cheating was taking place. We do not reprimand people for bringing forward information that we can substantiate.”
Defending this corrupt system, Sen. Jill Duson, D-Cumberland, alleged, “My own personal proclivities, my hackles are raised by what is beginning to sound like a presumption of malfeasance if you happen to speak another language. I’m wondering if you track pass rate data for any other category of applicants?” asked.