Oregon has removed an additional 302 people from its voter rolls due to a lack of proof of citizenship, authorities revealed. This recent development adds to the 1,259 individuals whose registrations were already deactivated for the same reason, bringing the total number of affected registrations to 1,561. The errors were attributed to clerical mistakes at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The issue arose following a law passed in Oregon in 2019 that allowed certain non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses. Under the state’s “Motor Voter” law, which came into effect in 2016, most individuals are automatically registered to vote when applying for a new license or ID. In response to the situation, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade and Governor Tina Kotek have called for an independent audit of the Motor Voter system to rebuild public trust.
Griffin-Valade assured that the errors would not impact the upcoming November election. She has directed the elections division to appoint a new oversight position for the Motor Voter program and to implement a systematic process for conducting regular data checks with the DMV, along with updating administrative regulations. Notably, 178 of the latest cases involved individuals from American Samoa who were mistakenly classified as U.S. citizens, despite being U.S. nationals without voting rights.
The DMV report detailed remedial actions taken, such as system adjustments, manual quality assessments, and staff training, to rectify the errors. Among the previously identified 1,259 individuals, nine were found to have voted since 2021, with a further ten reported to have cast ballots after being incorrectly registered; however, one was confirmed to be eligible to vote after all.
Efforts are ongoing to verify if the 302 affected individuals participated in any elections. The state authorities are working tirelessly to address the discrepancies and restore confidence in the integrity of the voter registration system.