Salem, Ore. – About 42 percent of people who were automatically registered to vote this year did so in this month’s election. That’s according to numbers released Monday by the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.
This was the first general election since Oregon’s new automatic voter registration law took effect in January. The law registers eligible people who have some sort of contact with the DMV.
People can opt out if they choose, but most have remained registered.
Turnout among automatically registered voters was lower than the overall turnout rate of 79 percent. But among those who chose a party, turnout was comparable to those who registered the conventional way.
All told, just over 97,000 ballots were cast in Oregon by people registered through the so-called motor voter law.
The turnout among automatically registered voters was much higher in the general election than their 19 percent rate in the May primary, when unaffiliated voters generally had few contests on their ballots.
