Oregon’s Department of Motor Vehicles recently found its “motor voter” system registered even more voters who failed to prove eligibility — totaling more than 1,500 — following previous discoveries that a gap in the system had placed noncitizens on the voter rolls.
Even Democrat Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, who defended the system in the past, called for an independent audit alongside Democrat Gov. Tina Kotek, according to a press release. The governor announced Monday she would pause the automatic voter registration at the Oregon DMV until completion of a more thorough review.
When Oregonians 16 and older apply for a permit, driver’s license, or ID with documents that prove American citizenship, the DMV sends their information to the secretary of state’s office, which registers them to vote through the “motor voter” system.
But according to the DMV “after action report” released yesterday, this system had three major flaws: a technology glitch, DMV workers recording documents like foreign passports and birth certificates as American, and the system treating residents of the territory American Samoa as citizens since 2016.
This resulted in the state registering more than 1,500 potential noncitizens to vote. The state is unsure of their citizenship status, but found they did not present the proper documents when registering at the DMV, according to Monday’s release.
“The DMV’s after action report raises serious concerns about this important part of our voter registration system,” Griffin-Valade said in the release. Still, she claimed that “these new errors will not impact the
