The Oregon DMV admitted to mistakenly registering at least 306 non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections.
This error has been happening since 2021 due to a program that automatically registers people when they get a driver's license or state ID. State officials expect to find more cases before Election Day.
Since 2019, non-citizens in Oregon have been allowed to get driver’s licenses. Of the 306 people wrongly registered, only two have voted in an election since 2021.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said the 306 individuals would be notified by mail and won’t get a ballot unless they prove they are eligible to vote.
Griffin-Valade still supports the automatic voter registration system despite the mistake. Governor Tina Kotek also claimed this issue would not affect the 2024 election.
Kotek stated that this error came to light because officials were being thorough ahead of the 2024 election. She assured that her office would closely watch the situation.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has been working to clear illegal voter registrations in his state, criticized automatic voter registration.
LaRose said Ohio has many easy ways to register to vote, but automatic registration creates problems with non-citizens and those who don’t want to be registered.
He also explained the difficulties states face when verifying voter rolls, like relying on DMV data and the federal SAVE database, which costs $1.50 per query and is complicated to use.
LaRose is pushing for access to more data from the Department of Homeland Security to improve voter roll audits, but says his requests have been denied so far.