Over the past three years, Oregon has mistakenly registered more than 300 non-citizens to vote, a blunder attributed to the state's Driver and Motor Vehicles (DMV) services.
This mishap emerged following the passage of a bill in Oregon that permits individuals to secure driver's licenses without the necessity of proving US citizenship. The state's elections are conducted via mail-in ballots, a system that has now come under scrutiny due to this error.
According to The Post Millennial, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade explained that the error occurred when DMV staff erroneously selected "US passport" or "US birth certificate" instead of the foreign equivalents while entering documentation data for individuals applying for driver's licenses. This mistake resulted in non-citizens being inadvertently added to the voter registration system.
Griffin-Valade disclosed that of the more than 300 improperly registered individuals, only two are suspected to have actually cast ballots. The citizenship status of these individuals at the time of voting remains uncertain. Upon the discovery of the error last Thursday, the affected individuals were promptly informed by mail that they would not receive ballots unless they are eligible voters.
"Safeguarding the integrity of our elections is my top priority," Griffin-Valade stated. "When my office was made aware of this error, we moved quickly to update the voter rolls. I am also personally calling on the DMV to take immediate action to improve its processes to ensure this doesnt happen again."
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek sought to reassure the public, stating that the error "will not impact the 2024 election in any way." She also confirmed that the DMV was implementing urgent corrective action to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
However, the error has sparked calls for further investigation from some state lawmakers. State Representative Janelle Bynum demanded a comprehensive inquiry, asserting that any errors in the election process are "unacceptable." Democratic Congresswoman Andrea Salinas echoed the call for an investigation, while stressing that this was a bureaucratic error, not a deliberate attempt to manipulate the system.
Salinas stated, "I am calling on the state to act quickly to remove these individuals from the rolls, conduct a full and transparent investigation into how this occurred, and provide concrete steps they are taking to remedy this issue and prevent it from happening again." She added, "However, I want to emphasize that this was a bureaucratic error by the Oregon DMV and not a systemic attempt to cheat the system by organizations or individuals."
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