SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Travis Allen announced that he is requesting a formal audit of the DMV after reports broke of potential illegal voting fraud as the State of California implements the new Motor Voter Law, under which the DMV automatically registers people to vote when they obtain or renew a driver's license - unless they opt-out. He pointed out that a million driver's licenses have been issued to illegal immigrants in the past three years.
"Californians don't believe for one second that an inefficient state bureaucracy like the DMV has put together a fraud-proof system to prevent Motor Voter from registering illegal immigrants to vote," said Allen. "California's citizens deserve to know that they have fair and honest elections. That is why I am calling for a formal audit of the DMV."
California this spring will begin automatically registering adults who obtain or renew a driver's license to vote, leading many to be concerned that non-citizens and illegal immigrants living in the state could find it easier to cast ballots in elections. Democrat State officials are disputing those claims, however, and say safeguards in place will prevent non-citizens from voting. The issue involves the latest implementation of the California Motor Voter Act, which beginning in April will send information about drivers to state voter rolls unless the license holder opts out, or is not eligible. The automatic registration component of the process has many concerned about potential fraud.
The audit would review all available voter registration applications processed by the DMV over the past two years. It would include available records from a prior process where DMV mailed paper voter registration applications completed by applicants for driver's licenses and identification (DL/ID) cards, as well as a new integrated process where DMV transmits information electronically to elections officials.
The audit would also review the documents provided by a DL/ID applicant to the DMV, to determine if the applicant is a US Citizen. If the applicant did not provide evidence of citizenship, the audit will determine how the DMV treated the registration request. The goal is to determine whether the DMV incorrectly processed voter registration applications from non-citizens or illegal immigrants.
"Open and honest elections provide California's citizens a powerful voice to hold government accountable," said Assemblyman Travis Allen. "We cannot allow Californians' voices to be undermined by a corrupted elections process. Californians deserve fair elections where only California citizens with valid registrations are voting. The bottom line is that Californians have the right to know that their votes count."
