PORTLAND, Oregon: Oregon officials acknowledged a “data entry issue” when more than 300 non-citizens applying for driver’s licenses were registered as voters since 2021.
Kevin Glenn, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation overseeing the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services, revealed that 306 non-citizens were registered to vote. Of those, two have voted in elections since 2021.
State and federal laws prohibit non-citizens from voting in national and local elections.
Glenn said the mistake occurred partly because Oregon has allowed non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses since 2019, and the DMV automatically registers most people to vote when they obtain a license or ID.
When a DMV worker enters information about a person applying for a driver’s license or state ID, they can incorrectly code that the person has a U.S. birth certificate or passport when they don’t.
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the office is checking for additional errors and will likely find more instances of registering non-citizens to vote.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said that the 306 people involved will be informed by mail.
More than three million people are registered to vote in Oregon, meaning nearly 300 mistakenly registered would represent a tiny fraction of potential voters.