Oregon DMV resumes automatic voter registrations after errors registered people lacking citizenship
Oregon DMV resumes automatic voter registrations after errors registered people lacking citizenship
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon authorities say the state’s DMV has resumed automatic voter registrations, after being paused since last fall because of the discovery of errors that registered nearly 1,600 people who didn’t show proof of U.S. citizenship.
Gov. Tina Kotek had paused the automatic DMV registrations in October. The improper voter registrations occurred in part because Oregon allows some residents who aren’t citizens to obtain driver’s licenses, and the state’s so-called “Motor Voter” law automatically registers most people to vote when they seek a new license or ID.
The Secretary of State’s office said it reviewed the cases and found that of the nearly 1,600 people who were mistakenly registered, only 17 voted in an election.
The Secretary of State’s elections division investigated the 17 cases, according to the office’s website. Eight cases are closed, six cases are still under active investigation by the office and three were referred to the Oregon Department of Justice for further investigation.
In a Wednesday news release, the DMV said it has put new controls in place. It hired a “voter registration integrity analyst” and changed the computer interface for DMV staff entering identification document information, and now requires a manager to review all files for accuracy at the end of the day before sending voter registration information to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State said in a separate Wednesday news release that it has also taken steps to prevent the error from occurring. The office will randomly sample automatic voter registration files once a month and confirm them with the DMV, and confirm the number of Motor Voter files sent by the DMV each day.
“I will continue to dig into the system and take action whenever I can to strengthen our voter rolls and prevent future mistakes,” Secretary of State Tobias Read said in the release. “Our highest priority is — and must always be — protecting the integrity of Oregonians’ fair, secure, and accessible elections.”
The Oregon Department of Transportation hired Deloitte for an outside assessment. In its final review report, the consulting firm said the enhanced processes “provide adequate confidence” that data integrity is sufficient.
Republican lawmakers said they still have concerns. State Sen. Daniel Bonham, the chamber’s GOP minority leader, said in a Wednesday statement that “a patchwork of fixes won’t be enough to fully restore confidence.”
There have been no new mistaken registrations under the Motor Voter program since controls were put in place in October, the DMV said. The department said it will continue to sample Oregon Motor Voter data on a monthly basis through 2025.
