The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will implement new measures to improve the integrity of the voter-registration process, following a review by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that revealed ineligible individuals had been registered to vote through DMV offices.
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced these actions after an inquiry into reports from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) indicating that some non-citizens, including illegal aliens, were able to register to vote at DMV locations. In some cases, individuals were registered without their knowledge and were mistakenly issued citizen identification cards. The investigation determined that errors occurred both due to examiner mistakes and a system error that failed to verify citizenship status for several months.
Initially, DMV examiners attributed these incidents to a “system glitch,” but later acknowledged that “the online system doesn’t verify citizenship status.” The DMV’s own investigation found that examiners sometimes incorrectly marked individuals as citizens, bypassing legal presence questions and enabling ineligible registrations.
To address these issues, the DMV has agreed to several steps:
- A statewide reminder will be issued to all DMV examiners about protocols and safeguards for proper voter registration.
- New training modules focusing on citizenship verification will be designed and implemented for examiners.
- Technological upgrades are planned to reduce errors in the voter registration component.
- Additional personnel will be hired for more accurate data input.
- Technical solutions are being pursued so that citizenship checks can be integrated into online and kiosk registration systems.
The DMV is also working with the State Board of Elections to ensure any ineligible voters identified by federal authorities are removed from the rolls.
“It is vitally important than our elections in North Carolina are accurate, fair, and irreproachable—and that the public has confidence in them—to protect the foundation of our democracy,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “We must ensure that our voter rolls are precise and do not include minors, felons, or illegal aliens. The DMV, which accounts for as much as 80 percent of voter registrations in a given year, plays a central role in that process. We appreciate the agency’s cooperation to improve processes so that only eligible voters are added to the rolls.”
Ferguson also thanked HSI and the State Board of Elections for their cooperation during this review process and stated his office would continue monitoring compliance at all levels.
“A host of federal laws give the federal government oversight authority to ensure states maintain accurate and current statewide voter lists,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “We take that obligation seriously and will continue to ensure confidence in our elections.”
