Oregon has taken more than 1,200 names off its voter rolls, blaming a “data processing error” at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that registered noncitizens to vote.
Oregon is one of only three states to mail ballots to every registered voter. State officials said those struck off the rolls will not receive a ballot for the upcoming November election but will have the opportunity to re-register with proper documentation proving their eligibility before the Oct. 15 voter registration deadline.
Of all 1,259 individuals affected, nine had cast votes in elections since 2021.
“We identified a rare but important anomaly that we have now corrected,” said Amy Joyce, DMV administrator. “We regret this situation occurred.”
On Jan. 1, 2021, the Oregon DMV began processing driver’s license applications under the two laws. The agency has since shared customer information, including age, address, and citizenship status, with the secretary of state’s Elections Division to automatically register those eligible to vote.
According to state officials, it’s “possible, though unlikely” that some errors occurred when DMV staff incorrectly selected “U.S. passport” or “U.S. birth certificate” for customers presenting foreign documents.
“Because having a U.S. version of either of those documents means a person is a citizen, the system included them in the file DMV sent to the Elections Division,” they said.
The audit came after the Institute for Responsive Government, a Chicago-based nonpartisan advocacy group focusing on election policies, called the Oregon government to ask how its automatic voter registration was going. This prompted the state to review 1.4 million voter records associated with the DMV after the 2021 policy change.
“Noncitizen voting remains exceedingly rare in Oregon and around the country,” said Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, emphasizing that the group of 1,259 people affected by the error account for 0.1 percent of the 766,756 people who have been automatically registered to vote through the Motor Voter system.
“We can continue to be proud that automatic voter registration is just one of the ways we ensure eligible Oregonians have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote,” she said.