U.S. Attorney Announces DMV Fixes After Review Finds Ineligible Voter Registrations

Federal officials say the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles will implement a series of reforms to strengthen voter-registration safeguards after a review by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina found that ineligible individuals were improperly added to the voter rolls through DMV processes.

U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced the changes on Dec. 2, following a months-long inquiry sparked by a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) report indicating that some non-citizens were mistakenly registered to vote at DMV offices — in some cases even after they had told examiners they were not U.S. citizens. According to federal officials, investigators also reviewed instances in which individuals were incorrectly issued identification cards indicating citizenship status.

“It is vitally important that our elections in North Carolina are accurate, fair, and irreproachable—and that the public has confidence in them—to protect the foundation of our democracy,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “We must ensure that our voter rolls are precise and do not include minors, felons, or illegal aliens. The DMV, which accounts for as much as 80 percent of voter registrations in a given year, plays a central role in that process. We appreciate the agency’s cooperation to improve processes so that only eligible voters are added to the rolls.”

The DMV’s internal review confirmed the problems. Officials reported examiner errors that incorrectly flagged some customers as citizens and a separate system error that persisted for about three months and allowed additional ineligible registrations. Both issues bypassed normal checks designed to ensure only eligible voters are registered.

In response, the DMV has agreed to implement a slate of improvements intended to reduce errors and modernize its voter-registration workflow. These steps include:

• A statewide reminder to all DMV examiners on voter-registration protocols and eligibility safeguards.

• New training modules emphasizing citizenship-verification procedures.• Technology upgrades to cut down on data-entry mistakes, including updates to the voter-registration component of DMV systems.

• Additional staffing to improve accuracy in handling sensitive information.

• Work toward integrating effective citizenship-verification checks into online and kiosk-based registration systems.

The DMV is also coordinating with the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) to ensure that any ineligible individuals identified through the federal review have been removed from the rolls, consistent with federal list-maintenance requirements.

Ferguson called the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls essential to safeguarding public confidence in elections, noting that the DMV accounts for the majority of new registrations each year. He also thanked HSI and NCSBE for their collaboration and said his office will continue monitoring compliance.

Federal oversight of statewide voter-list accuracy is grounded in various federal laws, and Ferguson emphasized that the government intends to continue enforcing these requirements. 

Candidate filing for the 2026 election runs until Dec. 19, as WCAB News previously reported.