Oregon DMV mistakenly registered over 300 noncitizens to vote; ‘urgent corrective action’ taken, Kotek says
(Update: Adding details from ODOT, more info from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — More than 300 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote in Oregon over the last three years through a data entry error by the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicles Services (DMV), KGW reported.
Only two have a voting history and are believed to have cast ballots, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said late Friday. It's not known if they were citizens at the time.
The error occurred when DMV staff entered information into their system, Griffin-Valade said. People requesting a new driver's license or ID must present identity documents. In some cases, staff entered "US passport" when the document was actually a foreign passport or "U.S. Birth Certificate" instead of foreign birth certificate. This led to the person's information being sent to the state's voter registration system.
After finding out about the error on Thursday, people who were mistakenly registered were notified by mail within 24 hours that they will not receive a ballot unless they demonstrate that they are eligible to vote, the secretary of state's office said.
“Safeguarding the integrity of our elections is my top priority,” said Griffin-Valade. “When my office was made aware of this error, we moved quickly to update the voter rolls. I am also personally calling on the DMV to take immediate action to improve its processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again."
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she's been fully briefed, and the error was discovered because the Oregon DMV and Griffin-Valade "were doing their due diligence ahead of the 2024 election."
"This situation will not impact the 2024 election in any way," Kotek added. "At my direction, the Oregon DMV is taking urgent corrective action to prevent any such error from occurring in the future."
An initial analysis by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which oversees the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services, revealed that 306 non-citizens were registered to vote, Kevin Glenn, a department spokesperson, told The Associated Press. Of those, two voted in elections since 2021.
State and federal laws prohibit non-citizens from voting in national and local elections.
The mistake occurred in part because Oregon has allowed non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses since 2019, and the DMV automatically registers most people to vote when they obtain a license or ID, Glenn said.
“It’s basically a data entry issue,” Glenn said, explaining that when a DMV worker enters information about a person applying for a driver’s license or state ID, they can incorrectly code that the person has a U.S. birth certificate or passport when they don’t.
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday that the office is checking for additional errors and will likely find more instances of registering non-citizens to vote.
More than 3 million people are registered to vote in Oregon, meaning 300 or so who were mistakenly registered would represent a tiny fraction of potential voters.
The DMV's lapses were first reported by Willamette Week.
Some have jumped to calling for a further investigation to be done.
In a statement, state Representative Janelle Bynum, who is also running for Congress, called for the state attorney general to launch a full-scale investigation.
"Any errors in this process are unacceptable, and the Office of the Secretary of State must be held responsible for any such lapses," Bynum said.
Congresswoman Andrea Salinas also issued a statement, calling the incident "unacceptable."
"I am calling on the state to act quickly to remove these individuals from the rolls, conduct a full and transparent investigation into how this occurred, and provide concrete steps they are taking to remedy this issue and prevent it from happening again. However, I want to emphasize that this was a bureaucratic error by the Oregon DMV and not a systemic attempt to cheat the system by organizations or individuals," she added.
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Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade orders necessary updates to voter registrations ahead of 2024 election
SALEM, OR — Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade ordered updates to 0.01% of voter registrations today after the DMV determined in an internal audit that they sent a small number of inaccurate customer records to the Elections Division.
The Secretary of State’s Office was made aware of the issue late on September 12 and acted within 24 hours. Residents impacted by this issue were noncitizens at the time they were erroneously registered. They will be notified by mail that they will not receive a ballot unless they demonstrate that they are eligible to vote.
Only 2 individuals in this universe have a voting history. Their citizenship status at the time they voted is unknown. The Secretary of State will do additional due diligence in these cases.
The error occurred at the DMV when staff entered information into their system. DMV customers are required to present an identity document when they request a new driver’s license or ID. The error occurred when DMV staff entered information about the type of identity document provided.
One example is entering “U.S. Passport” when the document was actually a foreign passport. The other example would be entering “U.S. Birth Certificate” when the document was actually a foreign birth certificate. When such an error occurred, the customer’s information was then transmitted to the state’s voter registration system. No individual took action to register inappropriately.
The DMV’s initial review of the error shows that it impacted 0.01% of voter registrations in the state of Oregon. The DMV is working around the clock to ensure that any additional records with the error are identified and corrected.
While this error is regrettable, the Secretary and the Elections Division stand by automatic voter registration and its many benefits. For the vast majority of eligible Oregonians who were registered through Oregon Motor Voter, this has increased access to our democracy. Oregon elections officials are firmly committed to ensuring eligible voters have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
“Safeguarding the integrity of our elections is my top priority,” said Secretary Griffin-Valade. “When my office was made aware of this error, we moved quickly to update the voter rolls. I am also personally calling on the DMV to take immediate action to improve its processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“Automatic voter registration has been hugely beneficial for thousands of eligible Oregon voters to ensure access to our democracy,” said Secretary Griffin-Valade. “I’m confident the DMV is rectifying this error and improving their process, so it doesn’t happen again.”
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Congresswoman Salinas Calls for Investigation into Oregon DMV's Failure to Protect Elections Integrity
Tualatin, OR – Today, following the Oregon Secretary of State's statement on the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicle's failure to protect election integrity, Congresswoman Andrea Salinas issued the following statement:
"Today’s announcement from the Secretary of State that noncitizens were mistakenly added to Oregon’s voter rolls is disturbing. This is total malpractice on the part of the Department of Motor Vehicles and is completely unacceptable. I am calling on the state to act quickly to remove these individuals from the rolls, conduct a full and transparent investigation into how this occurred, and provide concrete steps they are taking to remedy this issue and prevent it from happening again. However, I want to emphasize that this was a bureaucratic error by the Oregon DMV and not a systemic attempt to cheat the system by organizations or individuals."
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Helfrich: Noncitizen Voting Unacceptable, Threat to Election Integrity
SALEM, Ore. –House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) released the following statement after hundreds of noncitizens were discovered on Oregon’s voter rolls:
“Republicans warned over and over that Oregon’s election laws were too relaxed, and Democrats dismissed our concerns. Now, hundreds of noncitizens were found on Oregon’s voter rolls, and the state can’t say how many there are. This threat to election integrity is unacceptable. The Secretary of State must immediately inform the legislature as to the full extent of this problem and what is being done to fix it before ballots go out next month,” Helfrich said.
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