In a recent development, officials in Oregon have flagged 302 additional individuals who were incorrectly added to the state's voter rolls without providing necessary proof of citizenship. This incident raises concerns over the integrity of the state's voter registration process.
Fox News reported that since 2021, a total of 1,561 individuals have been mistakenly registered to vote without proof of citizenship, attributed to errors under the state's "Motor Voter" law and clerical issues.
Two weeks ago, Oregon authorities revealed that 1,259 noncitizens had been improperly registered to vote.
With the discovery of 302 more, these errors are linked to legislation from 2019, which permitted noncitizens to acquire driver's licenses. Furthermore, the 2016 "Motor Voter" law automatically registered individuals when obtaining licenses or IDs.
The registration mistakes stem from clerical inaccuracies at the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), where incorrect entries led to the mishandling of voter lists.
Following these revelations, the DMV released a comprehensive “After Action Report” on Monday that outlined the missteps involved in the registration process. In response, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade directed that all 302 registrations be inactivated.
To address these serious issues, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Secretary Griffin-Valade have called for an independent audit of the entire Motor Voter system. They believe a transparent review by a neutral third party is crucial to restore public trust.
Among the newly discovered cases, 178 involved American Samoans, who are U.S. nationals but not citizens.
They are therefore ineligible to vote in elections. Additionally, 123 cases stemmed from unresolved software problems not previously detected by the DMV.
Fortunately, one of the errors was identified through the DMV's recently established quality control measures. To prevent future occurrences, the DMV has revised its dropdown menus and added confirmation prompts for passport information entries.
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce has admitted that their earlier confidence in the system's integrity was misplaced based on the new information discovered. Joyce stressed the importance of transparency, stating that the DMV remains committed to following the governor’s directives for corrective action.
Oregon experienced a substantial voter turnout of 81.97% during the 2020 election, with President Joe Biden emerging victorious by over 380,000 votes.
Between the initial discovery of errors and Monday's report, 10 noncitizens were previously registered and cast ballots, although at least one gained citizenship before participating in the election.
The Secretary of State’s office is striving to guarantee that the 302 mistakenly registered individuals will not receive ballots for upcoming elections, although not every error might be caught in time.
Griffin-Valade has expressed confidence that the swift action by election officials will ensure the new mistakes won’t affect the 2024 election.
Moreover, Secretary Griffin-Valade emphasized that the DMV's "After Action Report" underscores significant concerns regarding Oregon's voter registration system. She advocates for a comprehensive, audited examination to regain the public’s confidence in the process.
Oregon's issue reflects a broader scenario observed in states like Texas, Ohio, and Arizona. These states have grappled with similar challenges, resulting in voter roll purges and corresponding investigations to preserve the integrity of elections.
Oregon’s case exemplifies the potential pitfalls within automatic voter registration systems when faced with administrative and technical errors. Moving forward, Oregon is undertaking measures to rectify these errors and prevent a recurrence of similar lapses.
