Oregon House OKs use of Medicaid records to expand automatic voter registration

The Oregon House, for a third consecutive day, split along party lines to pass major legislation.

On Wednesday, May 3, it sent to the Senate a bill to expand Oregon's automatic voter registration based on the use of Oregon Health Plan records maintained by the Oregon Health Authority. The records contain information about citizenship status, required for eligibility for the plan. House Bill 2107 would add to voter registration rolls for the 2026 general election.

Oregon would not be the first to make such use of records that states must keep under the Medicaid program, under which states and the federal government provide health insurance for low-income people. Similar legislation has passed in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.

Oregon was the first of 22 states, back in 2015, to use driver records for automatic voter registration in what is known as "new motor voter."

A few other states have authorized use of other government records for automatic voter registration.

The bill passed with 34 Democrats in favor, and only Rep. Paul Evans of Monmouth siding with 24 Republicans against it. One Republican was excused. The vote mirrored that of the original law in 2015, when all House Democrats voted for it — including Evans — and all House Republicans against it.

House Majority Leader Julie Fahey, a Democrat from Eugene and the bill's floor manager, said the law resulted in a voter registration rate of 93.6% of eligible voters for the 2022 general election, compared with 73% in 2014 before lawmakers approved automatic voter registration. Oregon's voter participation rate, which measures the number of voters who cast ballots, led the nation in the Nov. 8 general election.

"The numbers show that this law is working as intended," Fahey said. "This bill is the next step in a years-long effort to make sure that every eligible Oregon voter has a meaningful opportunity to cast a ballot."

Fahey said that 2016, the first year in which automatic voter registration was in effect, coincided with her first campaign for the House. Under the law, which now relies on records from the Driver and Motor Vehicle (DMV) Services Division, people who are not otherwise registered are notified by postcard that they will be registered with their county elections office — unless they choose to opt out within 14 days. They are automatically enrolled in no political party, unless they choose to be.

"I talked to Oregonians who never thought of themselves as voters, or who did not realize they were eligible, who simply hadn't been able to prioritize it or vote through the normal process," she said.

Fahey and Republican Rep. Jack Zika of Redmond, who is no longer in the House, sponsored a variation in 2021 that failed to advance beyond the Legislature's joint budget committee.

Oregon recently topped the 3 million mark in registered voters. But more than 200,000 potentially eligible voters remain unregistered — many Oregonians do not have driver licenses or identification cards — and the use of Oregon Health Plan records could result in registration of an estimated 171,000 more voters. Many are young or people of color.

"Despite this great progress, a large number of Oregonians remain unregistered," said Rep. Khanh Pham, a Democrat from Southeast Portland. "This bill would ensure that every Oregonian who is eligible for Medicaid has an opportunity to participate in the vote."

GOP dissent

Republicans, however, said the bill lacked details of how the expansion would be carried out.

"This is not fully baked yet and its time has not come," Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, said.

Some attempted to tie the bill to Shemia Fagan, who is resigning as secretary of state May 8 in connection with an unrelated matter. Fagan's name is listed as the requester on the bill, which originally was introduced for a different purpose. Elections are conducted by counties, although the secretary of state is Oregon's chief elections officer.

House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson of Prineville was almost wistful about the days before Oregon moved to mail ballots for all elections starting in 2000, after voters approved a ballot initiative in 1998 by a 70% majority.

"When I was growing up, election day had an awe in it," she said. "It was the day when you made sure you went to the polls and be seen by your neighbors as you went through the line to get your ballot, verify your voting status and move to the booth," she said, before voters got a sticker saying "I voted."

Breese-Iverson was born in 1974, seven years before a Republican secretary of state (Norma Paulus) persuaded a Democratic Legislature to pass and a Republican governor to sign a bill authorizing Oregon's first experiments with mail voting. By 1990, when Democratic Secretary of State Barbara Roberts was elected governor, all of Oregon's 36 counties had conducted a local election by mail. (Roberts voted against the 1981 bill.)

"Our current mail-in system has increased the voters in Oregon," Breese-Iverson said. "But are we just checking a box — or are we capturing the informed voters who want to make a difference in Oregon?"

Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, said he also looked back fondly at his first time voting in person.

"But I can tell you that the voting experience we have today is so much better," Kropf said. "When I get home, I'm going to have time to be deliberate and think of what choices are available. I'm not going to have to take time off after work to vote. I'm not going to have to stand in line. I'm going to be able to vote with a level of ease that does not exist in other states.

"We should continue to break down barriers to ensure that all voters have the chance to vote and participate in our democracy."

'Safe and secure'

Breese-Iverson and other Republicans also appeared to question Oregon's system.

"It seems to me that at a time when we should be trying to bolster the integrity of our voting system, we should not be expanding it," she said.

She was one of 12 state legislators who urged Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to join a Texas lawsuit raising questions about the results of the 2020 presidential election in four swing states. Rosenblum declined, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas lacked legal standing to file suit.

Breese-Iverson said afterward in Willamette Week, which posed a question to all 12: "The focus of state legislatures throughout the country should be to continue to improve our systems, ensure the process is fair and equitable to all voters, and know without a doubt that the integrity of each state's system, including Oregon's, is beyond reproach."

Fahey said critics failed to point to any specific instances in Oregon.

"Some today have suggested that the integrity of our election system is in question. I want to unequivocally refute that assertion," she said.

"That narrative is driven by partisan individuals and media that have an agenda. It is driven by indisputably false claims about election fraud. The reality is that our election system is safe and secure, including our automatic voter registration system."

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