The Oregon DMV admitted on Friday to wrongfully registering at least 306 non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections.
The DMV says the wrongful registrations have occurred since 2021 and were the result of a program that automatically registered anyone who obtained a driver’s license or state ID. State officials say they expect to find more wrongful registrations ahead of Election Day.
Oregon has allowed non-citizens to obtain diver’s licenses since 2019. Of the 306 people identified, just two have cast ballots in an election since 2021.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade says the 306 people “will be notified by mail that they will not receive a ballot unless they demonstrate that they are eligible to vote.”
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Griffin-Valade defended the state’s automatic voter registration program despite the lapse. Gov. Tina Kotek also argued the discovery will “not impact” the 2024 election.
“While this error is regrettable, the secretary and the Elections Division stand by automatic voter registration and its many benefits,” Griffin-Valade said.
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“The error in data entry which may have affected the voter eligibility of some Oregonian’s voter registration was discovered because the Oregon DMV and the secretary of state were doing their due diligence ahead of the 2024 election,” Kotek said in another statement. “My office will continue to closely monitor the situation. This situation will not impact the 2024 election in any way.”
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has led a purge of illegal voter registration in Ohio throughout the year, told Fox News Digital that so-called automatic voter registration is a problem across the country.
“This is why we have resisted so-called automatic voter registration in Ohio. We have multiple really convenient ways to register in Ohio, but there are people who should not be registered, like non-citizens, and there are people who simply don’t want to be registered,” LaRose said.
He also highlighted the obstacles state offices face when trying to verify voter rolls. LaRose says Ohio first checks against DMV data, but it often can’t determine a registrant’s status.
The second check is the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, a list of non-citizen data maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. States have to pay $1.50 for each query of the database, however, and finding the information required to properly search the data is cumbersome, LaRose says.
LaRose added that he and other election officials are seeking access to more DHS data that would allow for a more accurate audit of voter rolls, but his requests have so far been refused.
“I don’t usually assume people’s intentions, but it would seem they don’t want us to use that information to identify non-citizens,” LaRose told Fox.
