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2024-10-03 08:37:54 UTC
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Permalinkstate provide information on how the state is handling over 1,000
noncitizens who have been on voter rolls for three years, the latest
step from GOP lawmakers to crack down on election integrity ahead of
the 2024 election.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) and Rep.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) are requesting that Oregon provide answers
to the current registration status of 1,259 noncitizen voters that were
identified following an audit released last week. The number quadrupled
from the agency's previous estimate of 306 announced earlier in
September, according to the Oregonian.
The lawmakers are demanding to know what elections nine of the 1,259
noncitizens voted in, "in the interest of ensuring that voter
confidence in our elections processes and outcomes is protected in the
next federal election this November" in a letter sent Wednesday and
shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner.
The letter does not request the information of a 10th individual
identified in the audit as a noncitizen, who the Secretary of States
Office confirmed to have legally voted after becoming a U.S. citizen,
according to the outlet.
Oregon "must rectify" automatic voter registration problems concerning
noncitizens, Steil and Chavez-DeRemer said. The Republicans approved of
the state's decision to double-check its voter rolls after initially
finding 306 noncitizen registrants but said more needs to be done to
ensure accountability.
"It is of great concern that some of these individuals have been on the
voter rolls for three
years," said Steil and Chavez-DeRemer.
The House GOP is also asking for Oregon to detail additional steps to
ensure there is oversight over the Department of Motor Vehicles as it
works to prevent noncitizens from registering to vote, as well as the
steps taken to make sure there are no citizenship problems with other
voters.
Steil and Chavez-DeRemer are asking for answers and information to be
delivered to the committee's elections council by Oct. 11.
Federal law requires voter registration forms to compel voters to swear
under penalty of perjury that they are citizens of the United States.
Additionally, individuals must provide proof of a drivers license or
Social Security number so election officials can verify their identity
in U.S. databases.
For nearly a decade, Oregon automatically registered to vote anyone who
obtains or updates a drivers license or state ID and isnt already a
voter. However, in 2021, the law changed after state lawmakers
authorized driver's licenses for undocumented residents.
DMV Administrator Amy Joyce said earlier this month that the agency had
a two-step process for verifying license applicants who had a U.S.
passport or a birth certificate, but has since added a third step after
the errors of noncitizen voting were revealed.
While we regret this situation has occurred, we moved swiftly to
correct the issue before the coming election and implemented swift
corrective action to ensure the data processing error will not impact
the (November) election or future elections, Kris Strickler, director
of the Oregon Department of Transportation, told local reporters last
week.
Instances of noncitizens voting in federal elections are typically few
and far between. A fraud database housed by the conservative Heritage
Foundation found only 100 cases of noncitizens voting between 2002 and
2022 among a sample of more than a billion ballots.
The letter sent Wednesday is the latest step by House Republicans to
prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, which is already
illegal. The House passed an election integrity bill in July, dubbed
the SAVE Act, that would amend the National Voter Registration Act of
1993 to require people to provide proof of citizenship before
registering to vote.
Republican leadership attempted to attach the SAVE Act to a continuing
resolution in September to force a Senate vote on the election
integrity bill, but it failed on the floor after 14 Republicans joined
all Democrats in voting down the spending deal. A final spending
package extending the deadline to Dec. 20 passed last week without the
SAVE Act.
The clean stopgap spending measure that extends appropriation levels
until Dec. 20 was passed last week without the SAVE Act, much to the
dismay of hard-line Republicans such as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), the
bill's author.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Oregon Secretary of State
LaVonne Griffin-Valade for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-republicans-demand-
answers-from-oregon-over-registering-noncitizen-voters/ar-AA1rBDIw