Oregon DMV Error Placed More Than 1,200 Noncitizens on Voter Rolls, State Audit Finds

Oregon in 2015 became the first U.S. state whose DMV automatically registered eligible adults to vote

An election worker examines a ballot at the Clackamas County Elections office in Oregon City, Ore., on May 19, 2022. Gillian Flaccus/AP Photo

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.

In a Sept. 23 update on its audit, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the secretary of state’s office said they have identified another 953 erroneous voter registrations, pushing the total number of individuals erroneously placed on the rolls from 306 to 1,259.

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.”

The error stemmed from a combination of two state laws. The first is the 2015 “New Motor Voter“ law, which made Oregon the first state in the nation to automatically register eligible adults to vote anytime they obtain or renew a driver’s license. The second is the 2019 ”Drivers Licenses for All“ Act, which allowed noncitizens to obtain driver’s licenses using foreign passports and foreign birth certificates as identification.

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.

Oregon Republicans, who had fiercely opposed the 2015 measure due to concerns about privacy, costs, and security issues, are calling for a broader review of all voter registrations, not just those linked to the DMV since 2021.

“The only reason we know about the DMV registering 1,259 non-citizens to vote is because a national think tank started asking questions,” Oregon Senate minority leader Daniel Bonham said in a statement. “This tells me that there’s probably much larger, systematic issues at play.”