Oregon Releases Data on New Motor Voter Program

Article Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives
Oregon Releases Data on New Motor Voter Program

The Oregon secretary of state’s office has released new data on automated voter registration activity and ballots returned—Oregon conducts elections entirely by mail—since automated registration began Jan. 1. These are the first cumulative reports available since the close of registration to vote in last month’s primary.

Under the Oregon Motor Voter law, all individuals who complete a licensing or ID card transaction with the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV) are automatically registered to vote unless they opt out by returning a postage-paid postcard that the DMV sends to their home addresses. The postcard gives voters who do wish to register the opportunity to join a political party.

The law also provides the opportunity for retroactive registration of eligible but unregistered individuals who were entered in the state’s DMV database during 2014 and 2015, the two years before the program’s implementation.

Key findings of the data reports include:

  • The secretary of state’s office forwarded 68,583 new registrants to counties for processing, of which 43,571 were eligible to vote in the May 17 primary election. Among processed registrants, 11,548 individuals (15 percent) returned a postcard to indicate a party preference, and 57,035 (77 percent) did not return a postcard and were automatically registered without a party affiliation.
  • 4,627 people (or 6 percent of eligible registrants) returned a postcard opting out.
  • Of 2,287,551 eligible voters in the state, 1,228,458 individuals (54 percent) returned their ballots in time to be counted for the May 17 primary election.
  • Of the 43,571 individuals registered under automated voter registration and eligible to vote in the primary, 8,135 (19 percent) returned a ballot.

To identify potential new registrants, the secretary of state’s office analyzed 275,663 DMV transactions of eligible individuals. Nearly a third of those individuals were identified as unregistered and were referred for automatic registration.

Samuel Derheimer is a manager and Keara Castaldo is a research associate for election initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Follow us on Twitter using #electiondata and get the latest data dispatches, research, and news by subscribing today.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Voter Turnout
Voter Turnout
Article March 1, 2016

Election Dispatches

Election administration by the numbers
Quick View
Voter Turnout
Article March 1, 2016

Election Data Dispatches provides data, research and analysis about election administration in the U.S. While we link to external research data and other materials, we neither independently verify them, endorse the reports, nor affirm the authors' opinions.

RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives
Places
Oregon

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A coastal wetland is surrounded by conifer forest under a cloudy sky.

Speeches & Testimony

December 1, 2023 Oregon Can Use Data to Bolster Natural Climate Solutions
An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
An underwater view shows tall, skinny, brown plants extending from the seafloor to near the sunlit surface. The plants feature stalks that vaguely resemble the shape of carrots—but much longer—topped with long, reedy leaves that extend horizontally with the prevailing current.

Article

November 7, 2023 Scientists, Volunteers Work to Restore Oregon Kelp Forests

MORE FROM PEW

A pair of white and black Adélie penguins standing in the middle of a clump of snow face opposite directions. Seeing Antarctic Change, Scientist Calls for Stronger Action
A shipyard with towers in the foreground, a barge on a river, and a blue sky in the background. Louisiana Primed to Take Helm of Offshore Wind Supply Chain
About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards. Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.