New Oregon license law won’t affect ‘motor voter’

Undocumented immigrants will soon be eligible for Oregon driver’s licenses, after a bill to allow the practice cleared the Oregon Legislature on Saturday. Those drivers, unlike others, won’t be added to voter rolls under the state’s 3-year-old “motor voter” law, however, thanks to confirmation practices already in place.

The Equal Access to Roads Act, awaiting Gov. Kate Brown’s signature, eliminates requirements to prove U.S. citizenship or legal residency to get an Oregon driver’s license. Motorists still must be able to prove they live in Oregon, pay a fee and pass a driving test.

Driver and Motor Vehicle Services spokesman David House said there is no risk people without proof of citizenship or legal residency will get registered to vote by obtaining a driver’s license. The DMV already requires all applicants to show proof of citizenship or legal residency to get a license. Only those who are citizens have their names and information passed along to the Secretary of State for potential voter registration. That practice will continue, House said.

The DMV regularly sends the elections division a list of newly licensed drivers and those who renew their licenses who are U.S. citizens. The elections division then compares the list to voter registration databases to enroll anyone who is not yet registered.

That process was defined in the Motor Voter registration law, which began automatically registering Oregon residents in 2016.

“That doesn’t have to change at all,” House said. “There’s already something in place to prevent the Secretary of State from registering non-citizens.”

Under current law, Oregon residents applying for a license must present U.S. passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers. The new law, which takes effect in January 2021, will expand eligible motorists by accepting a written statement that the person has not been assigned a Social Security number.