The Independent View: Oregon Looking to Expand Voter Rolls

Update
On March 5, Oregon HB 2177 passed the legislature.

Oregon is one of three states, along with Washington and Colorado, that conduct elections entirely by mail, meaning every registered voter receives a ballot several weeks before Election Day. After moving to the all-mail system, Oregon’s voter turnout has been among the highest in the nation.

Secretary of State Kate Brown (D) introduced a measure Monday in testimony before the state House Rules Committee in Salem. Brown said the bill would add an estimated 300,000 voters to the registration rolls by scraping data from the Department of Driver and Motor Vehicle Services.

Left unsaid at the Rules Committee hearing were the political ramifications of adding so many new voters in a state where only 2.2 million people are registered. Democratic-leaning outside groups spend millions across the country to register voters, primarily low-income and minority voters who are less likely to sign up through other means. Removing the need to register those voters would ease the strain on liberal groups’ budgets, allowing them to focus more on getting those new voters to return their ballots.

Here's how it would work:

- Brown's office would gather driver's license data from Driver and Motor Vehicle Services and use that information to register voters.

- Prospective voters would be notified and given at least three weeks to decide whether they wanted to opt out of registering -- or if they wanted to register in a particular party. Otherwise, they would be added to the voter rolls as an unaffiliated voter.

- Brown's office would use DMV data going back to 2013 and that it includes information on whether the individual is a citizen and thus eligible to vote.

Two years ago, the bill passed the House on a largely party-line vote and failed in the Senate by one vote. This time, the Democrats appear to have the needed votes since they gained two more seats in the Senate.

Brown said her bill wouldn’t solely aid Democratic registration drives. The DMV information would add new voters both in urban and rural areas, which would presumably include at least some Republican voters.