AUGUSTA – As the implementation deadline of the Real ID Act gets closer, Mainers find themselves caught between principle and convenience.

The Legislature voted overwhelmingly last year to not comply with the federal law, seen by many as expensive and a violation of privacy. Seventeen other states also passed measures in protest of the law.

Beginning May 11, because of Maine’s refusal to comply with the federal law, Maine residents attempting air travel will be subject to a “secondary screening process” by transportation security officials if they do not have a passport or military ID.

“People are going to be able to fly; it’s just a matter of what the delays will be like,” said Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s secretary of state. “My advice is, if you have questions about your documentation or you don’t have a driver’s license, maybe you should apply for a passport now.”

Passports cost $100 and take six to eight weeks to arrive, according to the Lewiston Post Office.

The Department of Homeland Security, in charge of enforcing the Real ID Act, has agreed to allow states an extension until December 2009. But if a state applies for the extension, DHS said the state is signaling its “intent to comply” with the federal law, according to DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.

“As far as the extension requests go, they need to be made in good faith with not only the stated but the real intent to move toward compliance,” Kudwa said.

Maine officials are not eager to see state residents inconvenienced and subjected to rigorous background checks, but are reluctant to apply for the extension because they are concerned it would violate the state law enacted last year.

“We’re going to work with the Attorney General’s Office to find out whether or not (Maine’s) law allows us to ask for a waiver,” Dunlap said. “The Legislature was quite adamant in its opposition to Real ID, and that’s kind of where I am taking my cue from.”

Dunlap said it is ultimately his decision whether Maine asks for an extension.

David Farmer, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci, said there is no doubt the Real ID Act is “deeply flawed.”

“Congress should just repeal this thing, so that we don’t have to do this dance,” Farmer said. “But the governor takes this very seriously, and we’re not going to let our people get stranded.”

Farmer said the governor will move forward “deliberatively and cautiously.”

Montana and South Carolina are the only states besides Maine that have yet to request an extension. New Hampshire requested an extension but stated in its letter to DHS that it had no intention of complying with the Real ID Act. Homeland Security said New Hampshire’s request is still pending.

“The fact of the matter is, if you apply for the waiver, that just pushes the whole matter off until 2009,” Dunlap said.

Maine has until March 31 to apply for an extension.