Oregon’s Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade is facing scrutiny after her office mistakenly registered 1,259 noncitizens to vote through the state’s “motor voter” program. Griffin-Valade insists that noncitizen voting remains “exceedingly rare,” despite this significant oversight.
The issue was initially discovered when 300 noncitizens were found to be registered through the system. Further investigation uncovered an additional 953 noncitizens, bringing the total to 1,259. Nine of these individuals had already cast ballots, despite the fact that noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections.
Oregon’s “motor voter” system automatically registers individuals when they apply for or renew their driver’s licenses. Errors at the DMV—such as misidentifying foreign passports as U.S. documents—resulted in noncitizens being added to the voter rolls.
Griffin-Valade’s office has now inactivated all of these registrations, ensuring they will not receive mail-in ballots for the 2024 election. However, they will be given a chance to re-register if they can prove their eligibility.
The revelation has led to renewed calls for stronger oversight of the state’s voter registration system, with many questioning the validity of claims that noncitizen voting is rare. Critics argue that this incident highlights the risks of relying on automatic voter registration without sufficient safeguards in place.
