According to The Federalist, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles has instructed its workers to only require that those with “unknown membership” standing submit a petition for voting membership.  ,
” If you do n’t prove that you’re not a U. S. citizen, then you will be asked if you want to self-attest to being a citizen, and they will assist you with registering to vote”, Republican state Rep. Ed Diehl told The Federalist.  ,
Early next month, Democrat Gov. As the condition began a preliminary investigation into how the program had registered more than 1,500 possible noncitizens to vote, Tina Kotek halted Oregon’s “motor vote” system, as The Federalist had previously reported.
In response to this finding, Diehl met with state Police officials on Oct. 21. He claimed that the DMV has since stopped registering voters on forms that require verification in order to demonstrate citizenship.
It’s currently the only way, according to Diehl, rather than being extra — essentially a side trail for voter registration.  ,
Although the “motor voter” procedure that Kotek halted permitted more than 1,500 people to cast ballots without providing citizenship, that process potentially necessitated some form of documentary citizenship verification, as opposed to the method used today as described by Diehl.
The Oregon Department of Transportation’s Kevin Glenn, communications producer, claimed that the DMV had been registering voting records using a technique whereby the client provided” an identity record that proves they are a U.S. citizen” to the secretary of state’s office for voter registration.
” That process is on hold while an external assessment of the system is conducted”, Glenn said.
While Oregon Motor Voter was put on hold, he claimed the DMV has changed its procedure. He claimed that the election registration procedure is electronic and that it is in place in accordance with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which requires the state-run motor vehicle authorities to record voters.
” If, during a transaction with DMV, a person presents an identity document that does not prove they are a U. S. citizen, but also does not indicate they are  , not , a U. S. citizen ( e. g. immigration document, foreign passport ), we offer the person the opportunity to register to vote”, Glenn said. ” That requires the individual certify they are a U. S. citizen”.
Additionally, residents is “attest they are eligible to vote” by completing a membership card, according to Glenn.
” If done at a DMV business, DMV forwards that card to the Secretary of State or county clerk”, he said.
When it comes to proof of identification, the Oregon voter registration form requires the last four digits of individual’s Social Security number, a driver’s license number, or another type of “acceptable id” like” a power costs” or” a salary stub”. ( Sons of non-citizens may obtain Social Security numbers, which are not valid as citizenship. ) Citizens check boxes to state that they are age 16 or older and a U. S. member.  ,
If an individual lies on an attestation, he commits perjury, a “felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to$ 125, 000” and a civil offense that carries a penalty of up to$ 10, 000. But police procedures, if any, are questionable.  ,
” Unless they demonstrate that they’re not a member, yeah, they’ll give them to vote”, Diehl said of the DMV’s existing registration process.  ,
Democrat Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade has received more than 54,600 voter registrations from June 2021 to October 2024 as a result of this program, according to documents obtained by The Federalist.  ,
Registering Citizens for” Unknown Membership”
Following the meeting, The Federalist obtained records that Diehl was sent by the DMV. These records demonstrate that the organization is registering potential voters who do n’t already have eligibility to vote.
An Oregon DMV report obtained by The Federalist,” Sign of Citizenship Accepted By DMV” dated Oct. 25, especially states that the company offers “opt-in voting registration” to those with “unknown membership status”.
The report states that the DMV began allowing individuals with unofficial citizenship status to register as voters at login issuance. The student must self-certify their citizenship before being eligible to register as an opt-in voter. The voting registration option is not available to candidates who present non-citizenship evidence.
The DMV printed 8, 293 for registration accounts from January 2021 to June 2021, delivering them to state election headquarters, and sent 54, 656 for licenses to the secretary of state from June 2021 to October 2024, according to the report.  ,
According to the report, these registrations came after the Democratic-controlled Oregon legislature passed HB 2015. HB 2015, which was passed in 2019 but took result in 2021, removed the requirement of proving legal position to get a pilot’s license.
The Federalist obtained a DMV slide show titled” Credential Issuance Transactions In A Field Office” from October 21 that explains how Oregon License Issuance and Vehicle Registration ( OLIVR ) instructs staff members to handle the voter registration of potential noncitizens.
The slide reads,” OLIVR will enable the team member to question the customer if they would like to register to vote if the buyer presents a document that does not imply non-citizenship.” The user is then prompted to read and validate their enrollment using the button plate if the client responds “yes.”
Another Dot document obtained by The Federalist, by the same name and with the same day, describes the procedure also.
An Oregon DMV slide show explaining how potential aliens can register to vote in the collection. Courtesy of Ed Diehl
The DMV began offering REAL IDs, which have some national ID criteria, in 2020, according to an” After-Action Report” from the DMV. ( Notably, citizenship is not a requirement for REAL ID. ) However,” customers could still select the standard license or ID that did n’t have to meet the REAL ID requirements.”
According to the report,” the majority of clients chose the common certification over the REAL ID type.” Standard issuances merely stated that the person did not need to demonstrate legal presence and did not choose REAL ID.
Glenn said that the secretary of state’s office, not the DMV, registers voters.
When questioned about the verification procedures the secretary’s office employs to keep noncitizens on voter rolls, Laura Kerns, the DMV’s communications director, responded that administrative rules require that information only be sent to people who have proven citizenship.
According to Kerns,” the rule clearly states that DMV should only be sending information to our office for individuals who have a history of providing documentation to DMV proving that the individual is a U.S. citizen.” The DMV has repeatedly stated that the issue was the result of mistakes in how to identify the information to send to our office.
The” Tip of the Iceberg”
Kotek’s review of Orgeon’s “motor voter” system only examines a portion of “motor voter” registrations since 2021, targeting a limited number of issues, like the improper ID being recorded — even though the program has been operating since 2016.  , A recent report, examining this limited data, found 56 additional potential noncitizens on the voter rolls, bringing the total to 1, 617.
Glenn said the DMV’s review included” standard licenses, permits, and ID cards” after Jan. 1, 2021, that indicated American citizenship.
” It is believed the risk of clerical error does not exist in records transmitted before 2021 or for REAL IDs for reasons described in the , After-Action Report“, Glenn said.  ,
Republican state senator Dennis Linthicum claimed that Kotek and Griffin-Valade are” setting it up and using it for their own benefit” and that they are “using it for their own benefit.
The governor’s request for an outside audit is left wide open, Linthicum said,” when they restrict the scope to these few circumstances or issues, and then they restrict the scope to the remainder of the endeavor.” Because they are aware that the endeavor is full of dangers, they warn against doing so.
Linthicum has served as a state senator since 2017, but he lost the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Oregon this month. He claimed that because of this investigation, he believes it is a farce so that authorities can “pretend to barricade and stop those issues.”
” Yet, the whole rest of the body politic could be equally as corrupt, if not more”, he said. They lack a thorough approach to preventing noncitizens from casting ballots.
Linthicum argued that state officials should conduct an eight to ten-year review of monthly voter roll data to prevent larger issues.
Kerns claimed that the secretary of state established a “motor voter oversight” position in the Oregon Elections Division in order to establish regular data checks and review procedures with the elections division and update administrative rules after discovering noncitizens on the voter rolls.
Jeff Eager, former mayor of Bend, Oregon, who writes on state politics, told The Federalist he has been trying to obtain public records regarding the” motor voter “program placing noncitizens on the rolls. Records release was delayed until after the election, according to the DMV.
Eager said,” It seems to me like they’re playing games with the response by putting it off forever. The issue is that this is just the tip of the iceberg because the majority of Oregon voters have registered to cast ballots without providing any form of citizenship.
The staff writer for election integrity is Logan Washburn. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan was born and raised in rural Michigan, but he is primarily from Central Oregon.
