Oregon Shelves Criminal Probe Into Noncitizen Voting

The Oregon Department of Justice and the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office have dropped criminal investigations into three noncitizens suspected of voting in state elections. The cases stemmed from a clerical error that wrongly registered more than 1,600 noncitizens to vote during the driver's license and ID card application process.

Although evidence showed the three individuals submitted signed ballot envelopes, Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Howes advised against prosecution. Howes stated that the state's referral process lacked defined protocols and appeared to target people who exercised their rights to counsel or against self-incrimination. He warned that any criminal charges would be vulnerable to claims of selective prosecution, which could lead to the dismissal of the cases.

Secretary of State Tobias Read confirmed his office has no plans to re-refer these specific cases. Read is now working to improve agency protocols and policies to ensure consistency in how such cases are referred in the future.