As the holiday shopping season gets
underway this week, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson reminds you to give
yourself the gift of time.
“Many Michigan
residents don’t need to visit a Secretary of State office each year,” Johnson
said. “Several of our most common transactions can be done online at ExpressSOS.com without
leaving home, saving you time you can use on more enjoyable activities.”
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday
approaching, when many residents shop for online deals, Johnson urges residents
to quickly renew their tabs or driver’s license while they’re at it. “Before
you shop, hop online to ExpressSOS.com
with Print’N Go. It’s painless,” she said.
Johnson also reminded Michigan residents that the last place they should be on their birthday is a Secretary of State office. Plate renewals and many license renewals can be done by simply hopping online anytime from six months early right up until the last minute of their birthday. Plus, most customers can renew through the mail or at more than 80 Self-Service Stations across the state.
 To help drive home that point, Johnson has unleashed another kangaroo-themed video.
Hoppy Birthday” is a follow-up to the original video, which was launched this year featuring Johnson and a kangaroo who raps about the ease and convenience of renewing your tabs online. Versions of it, including this 30-second clip, were viewed more than 100,000 times online and hundreds of thousands more times on cable television and newscasts.
Johnson said she has named her kangaroo co-star Mi-Roo, based on several entries submitted by residents as part of a naming contest held by the Secretary of State’s Office. The winners appear in another new promotional video for the convenience of ExpressSOS.com.
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Residents have completed more than 11.5 million timesaving transactions on ExpressSOS.com since the site was introduced in 2011.
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson reminds Michigan residents that when they go online for Secretary of State business they double-check the website they’re doing business with before they get taken for a ride by a motor-vehicle look-alike site.
“When you need answers or have driver or vehicle business to do in Michigan, watch out for sites that aren’t official state of Michigan sites that pop up in a web search,” Johnson said. “Those unofficial sites may charge you unnecessary fees and provide inaccurate information. Keep it real. Deal directly with the Secretary of State’s Office.”
Residents should be sure to go to the official sites Michigan.gov/sos or ExpressSOS.com for the most accurate information.
Johnson said her office regularly receives complaints from customers who believed they visited an official Secretary of State website to complete a transaction and paid a fee, only to later find that the money did not go to the state, and they did not get the services they thought they were buying.
Unfortunately, these customers used an online search engine that listed sites not affiliated with the state of Michigan when they were looking for driver’s license and vehicle license plate renewal options or other Secretary of State services. These sites charge for information or services that are normally available at no cost on the official department website.
The unofficial sites, which may end in “.org” or “.com”, often give the initial impression of being a motor-vehicle agency website, but, if you look closer, the sites may have a notification they are not affiliated with a government agency.
Some sites sell “guides” to people about how to obtain a driver’s license that may be nothing more than electronic versions of free literature that motorists can get online or at any Secretary of State office.
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