Most voters see the state in operation in one place - the D.M.V. As such, most people measure the efficiency of the state by the efficiency of the D.M.V. If someone is in and out of the DMV quickly with a minimum of hassle, they will leave with a positive impression of the state administration.
And by the same measure, if the effort is slow, frustrating, and requires hours of waiting (ie what normally occurs), then they will leave with a very negative impression.
If every other part of the state's administration is so efficient and effective that it's a model for the private sphere, that has less impact than what people see at the DMV.
If I was Chief Operating Officer for the state I would set a goal that 95% of the visitors to the DMV spend 5 minutes or less waiting (10 minutes if they have a driving test). And then I would focus on that, measuring and publishing the results in every office for each day, week, and month. Find the offices that are successful, find out what they do differently, and duplicate it.
This would be a more powerful counter argument to the "eliminate fraud & waste" argument than anything else than could be brought up. It would also be a strong argument that additional taxes would be effectively and efficiently spent.
I think this is eminently doable, because everyone who shows up at the DMV in the morning is taken care of by the close of business. A customer focused business administration would be all over this.
