Senator Patricia Bates Responds to Report of Inaccurate Party Registrations of California Voters

SACRAMENTO – Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) issued the following statement today after the Sacramento Bee reported that “At least 600 Californians, including lifelong Republicans and Democrats, have had their voter registration unexpectedly changed, and several county elections officials are pinning much of the blame on the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.”

“Today’s news offers additional information as to why the DMV should not be involved in voter registration. The DMV is already dealing with many other problems and having people question the integrity of our election system should not be one of them. It’s time for the Legislature to make voter registration at the DMV an opt-in process to safeguard against errors and fraud.”
 
Senator Bates has authored Senate Bill 57 that would simply make voter registration an opt-in process at the DMV, which would prevent some of the problems reported by media outlets over the past year. The Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee will consider the bill on January 7, 2020.
 
To learn more on why Senator Bates authored SB 57, click here to read her March 2019 op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
 
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Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) represents the 36th Senate District in the California Legislature, which covers South Orange County, North San Diego County, and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Click here to download her official Senate photo.