Baker Tilly releases Oregon Motor Voter audit findings
Audit found controls are in place to ensure the accuracy of Oregon Motor Voter registration data
UPDATED 7/3/25: Baker Tilly Advisory Group released findings from its independent, external audit of
Oregon Motor Voter, the state’s automatic voter registration program. The audit evaluated the effectiveness, accuracy, and security of the OMV program, with a focus on compliance, internal controls and data integrity.
The audit found controls are in place to ensure the accuracy of voter registration data, although some control gaps and exceptions were noted, stating: “The systems and technologies supporting the OMV program are appropriately configured, leverage automation effectively and are adequately secured to protect voter registration data.”
The audit listed eight detailed findings and outlined recommendations to address them. Oregon DMV and ODOT Information Services have already begun addressing these issues to further ensure the integrity of the Oregon Motor Voter program.
The Oregon Department of Administrative Services hired Baker Tilly to conduct an audit of Oregon Motor Voter at the request of Governor Kotek and then-Secretary of State Lavonne Griffin-Valade in the fall of 2024. The request was due to DMV clerical and policy errors regarding citizenship status that has to date resulted in roughly 1,800 people being mistakenly registered to vote. In reviewing these files, the Secretary of State Elections Division found that virtually all these individuals did not vote. Of the people mistakenly registered, only 38 had any kind of voting history and further investigation revealed that many were already citizens. These investigations also determined that none of these votes could have impacted the outcome of an election.
Starting fall of 2024, DMV adopted controls and processes to reduce the risk of error and hired a Voter Registration Integrity Analyst. Since October 2024, DMV has sampled new Oregon Motor Voter records each month and manually reviewed them against information collected from customers to verify accuracy. DMV publishes the information in a
monthly report.
No new mistaken citizenship data has been found in the Oregon Motor Voter file among transactions that have taken place since new measures were put in place last fall. DMV will continue to sample Oregon Motor Voter data monthly through 2025.
Baker Tilly used multiple sampling methods to test the accuracy and completeness of voter registration transactions and also found no new errors and no legacy errors.
As a partner to Oregon’s Secretary of State, Oregon DMV is proud of the role it plays in helping U.S. citizens register to vote. We will continue our work to ensure the Oregon Motor Voter program is secure and reliable.
