Oregon Celebrates Registration of Hundreds of Thousands of New Voters

The Oregon Motor Voter Program registered 272,702 voters from January 1, 2016 through the end of November, according to a report issued Monday by Governor Kate Brown and Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins.

"I am proud of the work of our state and local partners who worked tirelessly to make this program a success," Atkins said. "This would not have been possible without talented managers and dedicated county clerks who implemented Oregon’s vision of a more open voter registration system."

According to the report, about 78 percent of the new voters, or 238,876, didn’t return their OMV mailers following their visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and were registered automatically as nonaffiliated voters. About 11 percent, or 33,826 voters, returned their cards with their party selections.

About 8 percent, or 25,731 customers, opted out and chose not to be registered.

Of those who registered for a party, 15,079 registered as Democrats, 11,252 registered as Republicans, and 2,504 registered as Independents.

OMV registered 226,094 voters who were eligible to vote in the Nov. 8 general election. Nearly 44 percent of those voters returned their ballots, exceeding expectations of elections experts. Almost 79 percent of all registered and eligible voters returned their ballots for the Nov. 8 general election.

OMV voters helped reverse the downward trend of participation numbers in general elections since 2004. In addition, Oregon set a new record in the recent general election, with more than 2 million ballots returned.

"These are voters that may not have participated in the election without OMV, and that’s a win no matter the numbers," Atkins said. "The nation is watching Oregon, the first state to try a program like this, to learn whether automatic voter registration is possible.

"We can now say that it is."

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