Oregon’s new ‘Motor Voter’ law adds over 50,000 to rolls

On the eve of a historic primary election in Oregon, Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins released new data from the state’s pioneering automatic voter registration program Tuesday that show 51,558 new voters on the rolls since the program took effect on Jan. 1.

“This report confirms our estimate that over half of the 100,000 new voters in Oregon in 2016 became registered through Oregon Motor Voter,” Atkins said in a news release “Many of these new registrants are first time voters and, with just a week until Election Day, I want to encourage every Oregonian to make a plan to get your ballot in by 8PM Tuesday, May 17 th .”

Ballots must be received by your county clerk no later than8:00 P.M.on May 17, 2016. Postmarks do not count.

The United States Postal Service has notified us that ballots could take up to 5-7 days to reach county elections offices once they are put in the mail. Given Oregon’s geographic diversity, delivery schedules will vary across the state. Voters can look up their closest official ballot drop box atwww.oregonvotes.org/dropbox.

“Voters should call their county elections office if they have questions about how to get their ballots in,” Atkins said.

“And most importantly, voters should not be dissuaded from getting their ballot in if Election Day creeps up on them. You have one week to get your ballot in, and I know that our county clerks are dedicated to collecting every last ballot and making sure every voice is heard in this important election,” said Atkins.

Oregonians can find contact information for their county clerk atwww.oregonvotes.gov/counties.

Tuesday’s April Oregon Motor Voter data report provides updated data on the success of the program in its first four months. The report shows:

215,517 qualifying interactions at the DMV that were forwarded to the Secretary of State’s Office. These interactions represent DMV interactions with customers who are eligible to vote (U.S. Citizens and 17 years old or older) and who applied for a new or replacement ID, driver’s license, or drivers permit. In 67.24 percent of those interactions, the person was already registered to vote. Since implementation on January 1, 2016, the Secretary of State has sent 67,079 Oregon Motor Voter mailers to the DMV customers, giving them 21 days to opt out, select a political party, or become registered automatically as a non-affiliated voter. With 68 days of “mature” data (cohorts of cards where the 21-day window to return the Oregon Motor Voter card had elapsed), 51,558 Oregonians became registered to vote. Of those, 42,471 records were sent to Oregon county clerks to be automatically registered as non-affiliated voters. 9,087 Oregonians chose a party preference. 3,534 individuals chose to opt out of voter registration.

Oregon’s new voter registration law, Oregon Motor Voter, took effect Jan. 1. This law was created by House Bill 2177, passed by the Legislature in the 2015 Session and signed into law by Governor Kate Brown. The program modernizes voter registration in Oregon and provides a secure, simple, and convenient way for more Oregonians to become registered voters.

The Secretary of State releases regular reports about voter registration and Oregon Motor Voter on the 10 th of each month on theelections statistics pageof the Secretary of State’s website. For more information on Oregon Motor Voter, please visitwww.oregonmotorvoter.gov