In a recent turn of events, Oregon transportation authorities delayed informing elections officials about an error that led to the registration of more than 1,200 individuals to vote without proof of U.S. citizenship. The incident came to light when Oregon’s Driver & Motor Vehicle Services (DMV) discovered the erroneous registrations on August 1, with the cause and extent unclear at the time. Department of Transportation spokesperson Kevin Glenn disclosed this information to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
However, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade only became aware of the mistake six weeks later on September 12. Governor Tina Kotek was informed about the issue on September 13, according to spokesperson Elisabeth Shepard. The error stemmed in part from Oregon’s policy of granting driver’s licenses to noncitizens since 2019, with the state’s DMV automatically enrolling most individuals to vote upon acquiring a license or ID.
Last week, Oregon elections officials scrubbed 1,259 individuals from the voter rolls after establishing their lack of U.S. citizenship proof during registration. These affected individuals will not receive a ballot for the 2024 election unless they re-register with the necessary citizenship documentation. Of those potentially ineligible, nine individuals had voted in elections since 2021, a small fraction considering the state’s 3 million registered voters. Ten individuals were reported to have voted after being erroneously registered, but one was later confirmed as eligible, as per authorities.
Election officials are in the process of verifying whether these individuals were genuinely ineligible when they cast their votes or simply failed to provide the mandated documentation during their voter registration. Despite questions raised by Oregon Public Broadcasting, Glenn, the transportation department spokesperson, did not address why the DMV did not promptly notify elections officials about the error.
Ben Morris, chief of staff for Secretary of State Griffin-Valade, did not provide a direct response when asked if the office would have preferred to receive early notification of the issue. The DMV has implemented measures to rectify what was described as a clerical data entry error, as stated by transportation and elections authorities. Kotek has urged the agency to enhance staff training, establish a data quality control schedule in collaboration with the secretary of state, and produce a comprehensive report detailing the error’s origins and steps taken to prevent its recurrence.
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce shared that an inquiry in July from the Institute for Responsive Government prompted the agency to review its voter registration process. A representative from the organization mentioned an informal conversation with the agency’s information systems office focusing on DMV voter registration improvement and accurate data practices. This dialogue alerted the DMV to investigate potential errors in the voter registration system.
In response to the revelations, Republican lawmakers in Oregon have capitalized on the situation to advocate for reform. They plan to introduce legislation in the coming year aimed at addressing the identified issues and ensuring election integrity.