Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles) has called on Governor Tina Kotek in a letter to address urgent problems with Oregon’s voter registration system. Reports have revealed that the Oregon DMV registered over 300 non-citizens to vote, raising serious concerns about the accuracy of the state's voter rolls.

“Two weeks ago, we learned that non-citizens were getting $30,000 taxpayer-funded down payments for houses. Now, we’re finding out they’re being registered to vote, too,” Leader Bonham said. “Governor Kotek needs to make sure Secretary LaVonne Griffin-Valade gets on top of this and cleans up the voter rolls fast. Oregonians need to be sure the system is fair and accurate, especially with such an important election coming up.”

Leader Bonham also pointed to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s recent Executive Order 35, which prioritizes accurate voter rolls and addresses potential errors. “We need to follow Youngkin’s lead and get serious about fixing our system.”

Additionally, Leader Bonham is demanding that Governor Kotek ensure the Oregon Department of Transportation fixes the DMV’s process problems that led to these registration errors. “It’s important that ODOT reviews and enhances their procedures to prevent these kinds of errors in the future. Our elections need to be secure, and we can’t afford any more mistakes.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

House Republican Leader and Rules Committee Vice Chair Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) asked House Democrat Leader and Rules Committee Chair Ben Bowman (D-Tigard) to call a meeting of the House Rules Committee to receive a briefing from the Secretary of State and the director of the Oregon Department of Transportation on what is being done to catch and purge noncitizens from Oregon’s voter rolls.

“Only American citizens should vote in American elections, yet noncitizens have been discovered on Oregon’s voter rolls. Oregonians have a right to full transparency from the state as to the extent of the problem and what is being done to fix it before ballots go out next month. The legislature gathers next week; this provides an ideal opportunity for state officials to update the legislature on the steps being taken to ensure that Oregon’s elections are secure,” said Helfrich.

As of this time, the legislature has not received a formal update or notice of intent to provide an update from the secretary, nor has the House Republican Caucus received a response to its request for a hearing.

In response to a report that directly contradicted official statements about how Oregon detected non-citizens on their voter rolls, House Republicans also renewed their call for a public briefing on Oregon’s election integrity efforts.

“State election officials led us to believe they caught the problem through regular internal processes. That is not true,” said House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River). “Learning about this through the press is unacceptable. We need a public hearing as soon as possible so the Secretary of State and Department of Motor Vehicles can tell us directly what happened, why, and what is being done to fix it.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2024-09-20 13:23:36

Last Update: 2024-09-21 00:40:21