California DMV botches 23,000 voter registrations


Officials from California's Department of Motor Vehicles announced on Wednesday that between April and August, tens of thousands of residents were incorrectly registered to vote.
In late April, California launched its new "motor voter" system, which registers any U.S. citizens to vote when they either apply for or renew their license at the DMV. About a month ago, it was discovered that when DMV employees did not clear their computer screens between appointments, information from the previous appointment was combined with the later appointment, and that error-filled registration form was sent to state election officials who used the faulty information to update the voter registration database, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In a letter to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Jean Shiomoto, California's DMV director, and Amy Tong, director of the California Department of Technology, called this an "administrative processing error." About 1.4 million voter registration files were sent in between late April and early August, and during a monthlong investigation that compared correct DMV records against what was sent to election officials, 23,000 errors were discovered. An estimated 1,300 people were registered to vote even though they were not supposed to be, and an unknown number of people had their political party preference changed without their consent, the Times reports. Only U.S. citizens were affected, and they will receive notification in the mail. Padilla said he was "extremely disappointed and deeply frustrated" by the errors.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants