DMV admits that Oregon mistakenly registered nearly 1,260 noncitizens to vote.

Since 2021, Oregon officials have acknowledged that the error in the state's automatic voter enrollment system was more significant than initially believed, resulting in the registration of 1,259 potential noncitizens.

At least one of the mistakenly enrolled individuals became a citizen before voting, according to Oregon's Secretary of State, while ten others went on to cast a ballot.

Earlier this month, officials admitted to incorrectly registering approximately 300 voters through an Oregon DMV program that enrolls legal citizens when they obtain a driver's license or state ID.

According to the DMV and Secretary of State's office, a thorough examination revealed that 1,259 individuals who lacked evidence of U.S. citizenship were mistakenly included in Oregon's voter registry, which is four times the previously reported amount.

Officials emphasized that eligible individuals will not receive a ballot for the 2024 election but will have the opportunity to re-register beforehand.

"Oregon and the country have low rates of noncitizen voting, as Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade stated in a Monday statement. However, she emphasized that automatic voter registration in Oregon helps ensure that eligible individuals can exercise their right to vote."

A DMV audit found that staff may have mistakenly selected "U.S. passport" or "U.S. birth certificate" when presented with foreign documents, which led to voter enrollment errors beginning in 2021.

The DMV has rearranged its drop-down menu, so that "U.S. passport" is no longer the first, default option. Additionally, staff must now enter the state and county for all U.S. birth certificates and respond to a prompt when passport information is entered to confirm its accuracy.

"Amy Joyce, DMV administrator, stated in a press release that a rare but significant anomaly was discovered, which has now been corrected. Although she expressed regret for the situation, she was relieved that the prompt action taken by DMV and the Secretary of State allowed them to rectify the issue before the upcoming election."

Nearly half of the states, including Washington, D.C., have implemented automatic voter registration, as per the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Numerous allegations have been made about improper enrollment in states without automatic registration.

Since the 2020 presidential election, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has purged 1.1 million ineligible names from the voter rolls, while 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. Additionally, 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.

An investigation by the Institute for Responsive Government, a nonprofit promoting transparency and voter registration, exposed an error in Oregon's voter registration system.

Planet Chronicle' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this story.