The Oregon House, for a third consecutive day, split along party lines to pass major legislation.

On Wednesday, it sent to the Senate a bill to expand Oregon’s automatic voter registration based on the use of Oregon Health Plan records maintained by the Oregon Health Authority. The records contain information about citizenship status, required for eligibility for the plan. House Bill 2107 would add to voter registration rolls for the 2026 general election.

Oregon would not be the first to make such use of records that states must keep under the Medicaid program, under which states and the federal government provide health insurance for low-income people. Similar legislation has passed in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.

Oregon was the first of 22 states, back in 2015, to use driver records for automatic voter registration in what is known as “new motor voter.”

A few other states have authorized use of other government records for automatic voter registration.

— Peter Wong

Oregon Capital Bureau

The bill passed with 34 Democrats in favor, and only Rep. Paul Evans of Monmouth siding with 24 Republicans against it. One Republican was excused. The vote mirrored that of the original law in 2015, when all House Democrats voted for it — including Evans — and all House Republicans against it.

House Majority Leader Julie Fahey, a Democrat from Eugene and the bill’s floor manager, said the law resulted in a voter registration rate of 93.6% of eligible voters for the 2022 general election, compared with 73% in 2014 before lawmakers approved automatic voter registration. Oregon’s voter participation rate, which measures the number of voters who cast ballots, led the nation in the Nov. 8 general election.

Oregon recently topped the 3 million mark in registered voters. But more than 200,000 potentially eligible voters remain unregistered — many Oregonians do not have driver licenses or identification cards — and the use of Oregon Health Plan records could result in registration of an estimated 171,000 more voters. Many are young or people of color.

“Despite this great progress, a large number of Oregonians remain unregistered,” said Rep. Khanh Pham, a Democrat from Southeast Portland. “This bill would ensure that every Oregonian who is eligible for Medicaid has an opportunity to participate in the vote.”

Republicans, however, said the bill lacked details of how the expansion would be carried out.

“This is not fully baked yet and its time has not come,” Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, said.