More than 300 noncitizens have been added to Oregon鈥檚 voter rolls over the last three years, after lawmakers passed a bill allowing people to obtain drivers licenses in the state without proving citizenship, according to a recent review by the state鈥檚 Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division.
Just two of those people have actually voted in the time since, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said in a release Friday.
Even so, the discovery of the unintended registrations 鈥� attributed to human error on the part of DMV workers 鈥� is likely to become a matter of interest less than two months before a presidential election. It comes at a time national Republicans have been increasingly raising claims about noncitizens voting.
鈥淭he Secretary of State鈥檚 Office was made aware of the issue late on September 12 and acted within 24 hours,鈥� a press release from the secretary of state鈥檚 office said. 鈥淩esidents 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.鈥�
According to sources aware of the matter, 306 non-voters have made their way onto voter rolls due to the intersection of two laws. The first 鈥� Oregon鈥檚 鈥� automatically registers people to vote when they receive or renew a driver鈥檚 license in the state. The law has been hailed for expanding Oregon鈥檚 voter base since going into effect in 2016.
The second is that allowed people to obtain driving privileges in the state without first showing proof of citizenship. The law, passed almost entirely along party lines, went into place in 2021. But registrants were not supposed to be included in automatic voter registration, and it was unclear Friday afternoon how the errors occurred.
Willamette Week first reported on the discovery.
鈥淲hile this error is regrettable, the Secretary and the Elections Division stand by automatic voter registration and its many benefits,鈥� the secretary of state鈥檚 office said in its press release. 鈥淔or 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.鈥�
State Treasurer Tobias Read, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state, issued a statement Friday saying he was 鈥渁ppalled鈥� by the discovery.
鈥淭he responsibility for managing our election system lies with the Secretary of State鈥檚 office,鈥� Read said in a statement. 鈥淣o voters should be added to the registration rolls until the Secretary of State has been able to independently verify that the data it receives from any source is accurate and complete. I hope that the current Secretary of State will work quickly to protect the integrity of our system.鈥�
State Sen. Dennis Linthicum, the Republican nominee for secretary of state this year, did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
The issue of noncitizen voting has been a political hot button this year, with former President Donald Trump repeatedly pressing lawmakers in his party to take action on the matter.
鈥淣oncitizen Illegal Migrants are getting the right to vote, being pushed by crooked Democrat Politicians who are not being stopped by an equally dishonest Justice Department,鈥� Trump wrote on Truth Social in July, .
At Trump鈥檚 insistence, Republicans a to require that voters provide a proof of citizenship to a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown at the end of the month.
鈥淭here are a number of states who have shown they have noncitizens on their voter rolls. That is enough to create chaos in the election. And we have to stop it,鈥� House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told CNN recently.
Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, that routine reviews by elections officials over the last three years had removed more than 6,500 鈥減otential noncitizens鈥� from the state鈥檚 voter rolls. More than 1,900 of those people had a voter history, according to Abbott鈥檚 release.
In Ohio, 597 people who鈥檇 registered to vote despite not being active citizens. According to Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, that included 138 people 鈥渨ho appear to have cast a ballot in an Ohio election during the time state and federal records show they lacked citizenship status.鈥�
Despite those anomalies, there is that non citizens are voting in massive numbers, as some Republican officials allege.
