West
Oregon mistakenly registered hundreds more voters without proving citizenship
Officials in Oregon announced Monday that they have identified an additional 302 people on the state’s voter rolls who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when they were registered to vote.
The announcement comes just two weeks after officials in the Beaver state said 1,259 possible noncitizens have been registered to vote since 2021, bringing the total number of mistaken registrations to 1,561.
The mistakes occurred in part because Oregon passed a law in 2019 allowing some residents who aren’t citizens to obtain driver’s licenses. And the state’s so-called “Motor Voter” law, which took effect in 2016, automatically registers most people to vote when they seek a new license or ID.
OREGON MISTAKENLY REGISTERED NEARLY 1,260 POSSIBLE NONCITIZENS TO VOTE, DMV ADMITS
Oregon residents drop off their ballots near the Multnomah County Elections building in Portland on Nov. 3, 2020. (Ankur Dholakia/AFP via Getty Images)
The improper voter registrations stem from clerical errors at the state DMV.
On Monday, the DMV released an “After Action Report,” which identified errors in its processes that led to the mistakes, with Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade then directing county elections officials to inactivate all 302 voter registrations.
Griffin-Valade and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, both Democrats, called for an independent, external audit of the motor voter system in a joint statement.
“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. “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 Motor Voter is a transparent review by a neutral third party operating under strict government auditing standards.”
Tina Kotek, then the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, speaks with members of the media before casting her ballot on Nov. 2, 2022, in Portland. (Getty Images)
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce said the agency believed two weeks ago that it was confident it understood and had reviewed all records at risk of error.
“We have since learned this confidence was misplaced based on new information outlined in this announcement and after-action report and for this, we are sorry,” Joyce said in a statement. “DMV will follow the Governor’s directed actions and remains committed to continuous learning, corrective action, transparency and accountability.”
Griffin-Valade has ordered her office’s elections division to immediately hire a new Motor Voter oversight position, according to the statement. And she has instructed the division to establish a documented process for performing regular data checks with the DMV and update the administrative rules governing the Motor Voter system.
She said the Oregon Elections Division will work with the 36 county election officers to determine if any of the erroneously registered voters have previously cast a ballot. Every registered voter in Oregon is sent a ballot in the mail and the state had an 81.97% voter turnout rate in 2020. President Biden beat former President Trump comfortably in the 2020 election, winning the state by more than 380,000 votes.
RNC BLASTS WALZ ADMIN’S NONANSWER ON HOW NONCITIZENS MADE IT ONTO MINNESOTA VOTER ROLLS: ‘NO HYPOTHETICAL’
Of the 302 additional cases, 178 were due to people from the U.S. territory of American Samoa being misclassified as U.S. citizens, the DMV report said.
However, under federal law, people from American Samoa are U.S. nationals, not citizens, and don’t have the same right to vote. Another 123 records stemmed from the previously identified clerical error, but weren’t included in prior reviews due to a newly identified software issue. And one case was caught by the DMV’s new quality controls.
Griffin-Valade’s office says they are doing everything they can to prevent the 302 mistakenly registered voters from receiving a ballot, but cannot guarantee that all 302 ballots will be removed before they are mailed. Her office is putting in place a process that will ensure those ballots are not opened or counted.
Of the 1,259 possible noncitizens identified last month, 10 mistakenly enrolled individuals went on to cast a ballot, according to Oregon’s secretary of state, although at least one became a citizen before voting.
Officials in the state announced Monday that they have identified a further 302 people on the state’s voter rolls who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when they were registered to vote. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)
A DMV audit found staff may have accidentally selected “U.S. passport” when presented with a foreign passport, or “U.S. birth certificate” when given a foreign document, triggering voter enrollment.
The DMV said its drop-down menu has now been rearranged so “U.S. passport” is no longer the first, default option. Staff must also enter the state and county for all U.S. birth certificates and respond to a prompt when passport information is entered confirming that the documentation is accurate.
About half of all states, as well as Washington, D.C., have implemented automatic voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
But there have been numerous allegations of improper enrollment in states without automatic registration too.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in August that officials have purged 1.1 million ineligible names from the voter rolls since the 2020 presidential election.
Ohio’s secretary of state referred 138 noncitizens believed to have voted in previous elections to the state’s attorney general for possible criminal charges.
And a conservative watchdog group is suing Arizona’s Maricopa County for allegedly failing to remove more than 35,000 people who did not provide proof of citizenship.
Fox News’ Hannah Ray Lambert and Anders Hagstrom, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this story.
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Denver, CO
Broncos healthy compared to Bills
With the Wild Card round of the playoffs officially in the books, the Broncos are looking to welcome the Buffalo Bills to Mile High this Sunday. Things are different this year than they were last year. The Broncos are no longer a team just happy to be there. They’re a 1-seed juggernaut of football awesome, a real force to be reckoned with.
Truth be told, I think playing the Bills was the most ideal outcome for this weekend. After losing to each during the regular season, Denver wanted nothing to do with the Jaguars or the Chargers. While I’m confident the Broncos would have found a way to come out on top against either team, I’m glad this Sunday’s opponent is one Denver didn’t play during the regular season.
Most importantly, the Broncos are not facing the Bills team from last year, they’re facing thes year’s team who featured no fewer than 16-players on the injury report going into their Wild Card tilt. Versus the Jaguars, the Bills suffered further injury to QB Josh Allen (he was one of the 16 listed), RB James Cook, WR Gabe Davis, S Jordan Poyer, and WR Tyrell Shavers.
By the time the Denver Broncos take the field on Sunday, they will have had 14-days rest and has the opportunity to return guys, like Drew Sanders who may come off IR this week, that needed time to heal up to return to the field. The benefit to rest and health can’t be underestimated when you see teams like the Bills staggering into Sunday bandaged and bruised.
By contrast, the Broncos featured just 6 players on IR before their regular season finale against the Chargers. Sure, the injuries to S PJ Locke, T Garett Bolles, and CAlex Forsyth were less than ideal. We’ll get an idea soon how recovery has gone with the extra week rest, but we all know they’re better off for having the time off.
The playoff bye week is over. It’s time to get to work, Denver. You’ve got the Bills coming into town and it’s your task to show them their way out of town and into the postseason. It’s a tall order, but there’s no better time than the present to show the world exactly who you are.
Seattle, WA
UPDATE: Another incident reported near ‘the curve’ toward southwest end of westbound West Seattle Bridge
9:38 PM: SPD is arriving at the scene of another incident repoorted near “the curve” by the Walking On Logs/Welcome to West Seattle pullout, on this rainy night. We haven’t seen a visual but emergency radio describes a 1996 Ford Crown Victoria “in the grass” off the road. Apparently no injuries, as SFD has been canceled. No pole or other damage this time, police told dispatch.
10:23 PM: Officers just told dispatch they’ll be blocking both westbound lanes for a bit while the tow truck driver does their work.
10:50 PM: Both westbound lanes have reopened.
San Diego, CA
Morning Report: Newsom Pumps the Brakes on Homelessness Funding
During Gov. Gavin Newsom’s final annual address to the Legislature this week, he announced that the state’s principal homelessness program will get $500 million.
That’s half the $1 billion that has been allocated for the program annually since 2019, reports our Nadia Lathan, except for this year when it was gutted completely.
Service providers were disappointed by the news. Newsom previously suggested he needs to see more results before committing more dollars.
But Mayor Todd Gloria is pushing hard to get that cash. He was in Sacramento last week rallying lawmakers to support restoring the funding, Lathan writes.
Read more in the Sacramento Report here.
Gloria is giving his State of the City address this week. We’ll have more deets and a summary for you later this week.
Last year, he gave his speech from City Hall and declared that this was the “era of austerity” as city leaders faced a $350 million budget deficit. Our Mariana Martínez Barba looked out how the mayor’s plans to “right-size” the ship turned out in 2025.
Read more here.
VOSD Podcast: How About Them Parking Fees?
Our podcast crew is back for the new year, and boy has it been a busy controversial week for parking. The city of San Diego rolled out its parking program in Balboa Park last week and backlash from the public and City Council was swift.
While some councilmembers wanted the mayor to suspend the fees, he said that wasn’t an option. It all went down in a memo war. The crew digs explains what this means for the city’s budget.
Also on the podcast, the latest on the legal debacle between the city and people living in their RVs in Mission Bay. The city opened a safe parking lot, H Barracks, in May that would allow police to start ticketing vehicle dwellers in the area. But some people say H Barracks isn’t a viable option for everyone.
Listen to the Podcast here.
In Other News
- Fundraising for San Diego City Council races is kicking into high gear, with seats up for grabs in Districts 2 and 8. The possible entry of former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey could shake things up in District 2. (Union-Tribune)
- Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Program, and other homelessness programs are facing big cuts this year. San Diegans who rely on food assistance, and immigrants who can no longer qualify for the state’s low-cost insurance could be some of the hardest hit. (inewsource)
- Unemployment across the region went down in November after holiday retail hiring brought the unemployment rate down from 4.9 percent to 4.6 percent. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
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