Oregon removes 300+ additional ineligible voters, governor calls for third-party audit

The Oregon secretary of state directed county election officials to remove more than 300 additional ineligible voters after over 1,200 were removed last month. The governor, meanwhile, has called for a third-party audit and instructed the motor vehicles department to pause automatic voter registration.

Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade (D) told county election officials on Monday to remove 302 voters from voter rolls after the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division stated in a report that it determined they had not provided proof of U.S. citizenship. The secretary of state's office is working with the county election officials to investigate whether the 302 individuals have ever voted.

The 302 voters were found after the secretary and DMV identified 1,259 people in the state last month who were registered to vote without providing proof of citizenship due to an error between the DMV and the Elections Division of the secretary of state's office. Those voter registrations were removed from voter rolls last month.

Griffin-Valade announced Monday that she instructed the Elections Division to create and fill a new position that oversees the process of automatically registering voters through the DMV.

Griffin-Valade joined Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) in calling for a third-party audit of the state's motor voter program. Kotek also ordered the DMV to pause automatic voter registration last month until a review has been conducted by a data expert panel by the end of the year.

“Any error that undermines our voting system must be taken incredibly seriously and addressed,” Kotek said in a statement. “Given the findings in the Oregon DMV’s After-Action Report, an immediate, external audit of the Oregon Motor Voter program and a pause to data transmission between the Oregon DMV and SoS are imperative steps to ensuring the program can operate with integrity and accuracy into the future. I am grateful to Secretary of State Griffin-Valade for joining me in the call for an audit.”

“Thanks to the swift action of elections officials, I have full confidence that these new errors will not impact the 2024 election,” Griffin-Valade said in a statement. “The DMV’s After-Action Report raises serious concerns about this important part of our voter registration system. The first step in restoring the public’s trust in Oregon Motor Voter is a transparent review by a neutral third party operating under strict government auditing standards.”