State Admits That It Has Wrongly Registered Hundreds of Non-Citizens to Vote
The article discusses a significant error made by the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which inadvertently registered over 300 non-citizens to vote. This situation arose as an automatic registration system that registers individuals when they obtain a driver’s license or ID allowed undocumented residents—who have been able to obtain licenses since 2019—to be incorrectly registered. Of the 306 non-citizens registered, only two participated in elections since 2021.
The Oregon DMV spokesperson explained that this issue stemmed from data entry mistakes, where employees could mistakenly input codes that falsely identified non-citizens as eligible voters. The state Secretary of State has stated that these individuals would be notified that they are ineligible and would not receive ballots unless they prove their eligibility.
While the error represents a small fraction of Oregon’s total registered voters, it highlights potential vulnerabilities in the state’s automatic voter registration system. Critics suggest that even a small number of incorrect registrations can have significant implications, referencing historical instances in elections decided by narrow margins. Despite the blunder, state officials, including Governor Tina Kotek, maintain support for the automatic registration system, arguing the risk is minimal. The article ultimately raises concerns about the reliability of the registration process and the broader implications for election integrity.
Whoops!
In the latest object lesson in why we need voter ID laws and why motor-voter initiatives are a terrible idea, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles quietly announced late last week that over 300 non-citizens had been accidentally registered to vote.
Furthermore, The Oregonian’s report on the matter seemed to indicate a number of these 306 people illegally registered to vote were also here illegally, as well.
“The mistake occurred in part because Oregon has allowed undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses since 2019 and the DMV automatically registers most individuals to vote when they obtain a license or ID, according to Kevin Glenn, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which oversees the DMV,” the report said.
“Glenn said an initial analysis by the state transportation agency revealed 306 non-citizens were allowed to become registered voters. Of those, only two have cast a vote in any election since 2021, Glenn said.
“He also clarified that the issue is statewide, not limited to any specific county.”
“It’s basically a data entry issue,” Glenn told the outlet, noting that the DMV system can allow a worker who issues a license to enter a code which states someone has a document that proves they’re a U.S. citizen — a passport or a U.S. birth certificate — when they don’t.
When that code is entered, the individual is automatically registered to vote in the state.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin Valade said in a Friday statement that all 306 individuals “will be notified by mail that they will not receive a ballot unless they demonstrate that they are eligible to vote.”
And yes, of course, the argument was proffered that this was just a teeny tiny issue which, of course, would be resolved posthaste and don’t worry about a thing.
The Oregonian did the heavy lifting for state officials, noting that “Oregon currently has more than 3 million registered voters, meaning 300 or so would represent an incredibly tiny fraction of potential voters, about one ten-thousandth of those who could cast ballots.”
And what lifting the media didn’t do, the DMV and others in Oregon officialdom did.
“While this error is regrettable, the secretary and the Elections Division stand by automatic voter registration and its many benefits,” said Griffin-Valade in her statement.
Oregon Elections Director Molly Woon said that her office would monitor the situation, such as it was, “keeping in mind that these folks were registered by no fault of their own. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek also stood by all of that.
“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.
“My office will continue to closely monitor the situation. This situation will not impact the 2024 election in any way.”
However, the kicker to this entire story was buried in the 14th paragraph, long after all those statements were trotted out:
“In 2019, Driver and Motor Vehicle Services spokesperson David House told the news outlet there was no risk people without proof of citizenship or legal residency would get registered to vote by obtaining a driver’s license.” [Emphasis ours.]
Except apparently, there is! All because Oregon’s motor-voter scheme has a built-in point of failure wherein a DMV worker — not necessarily known as the most efficient or unharried class of government employee we have, as anyone who drives a car legally knows — can accidentally enter a code which automatically turns a non-citizen, legally or illegally here, into a registered voter when they cannot legally vote.
If a mistake that serious can happen by just an accidental code-switch, what else is getting missed?
Furthermore, while Oregon isn’t exactly a swing state, most of us were alive during a presidential election that was decided by 537 votes in Florida, so let’s please not say that 306 blatantly illegal registrations don’t matter. We’re constantly told from the left that voter registration needs to be easier and ensuring voter rolls are accurate needs to be less important, because this is somehow discriminatory, anti-democratic and evil. We’re told that there’s no risk to loosening the verification process and the real threat to our republic is tightening it.
And then this. Whoops! Sorry about that. There was apparently a risk in a risk-free system. But it’s really, really small, everyone!
Carry on. Nothing to see here.
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