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Motor Voter Process: Be Audit Smart Guide

In this Be Audit Smart guide, we’re breaking down our latest performance audit of the Motor Voter process in Pennsylvania. The Motor Voter Process is one way a U.S. citizen can apply to register to vote when they get or renew their driver’s license or ID card at a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Photo License Center.

Keep reading to find more about this performance audit and visit our Be Audit Smart page to access previous audits, audit guides, and learn key audit terminology.

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Audit Summary

The Pennsylvania Motor Voter process is one way a U.S. citizen can apply to register to vote when they get or renew their driver’s license or ID card at a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Photo License center. It is operated through PennDOT and IT support is provided by the Governor’s Office of Administration (OA).

The Department of the Auditor General conducted a performance audit of PennDOT and OA to find out if the Motor Voter process complies with state and federal laws and applicable guidelines, policies and procedures, and if the files PennDOT sent to the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) from the Motor Voter system properly excluded non-citizens. The audit period was Jan. 1 to June 30, 2024.

Read the Audit

“Pennsylvanians need to know the Motor Voter process works,
but the internal controls and security protocols around it must improve.”
^{– Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor}

Press Release

On April 17, 2026, Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor released a performance audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Motor Voter process, which allows eligible citizens to apply to register to vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license or ID card, saying the system works as intended but there needs to be better internal controls and security protocols in place.

“Pennsylvanians need to know the Motor Voter process works, but the internal controls and security protocols around it must improve,” Auditor General DeFoor said. “In the process of our audit, we determined that in one out of the 58 applications we identified for further review, PennDOT improperly allowed one non-U.S. citizen to apply to register to vote. The Motor Voter process worked as intended, but due to human error the driver’s license camera card had incorrect information about the individual’s citizenship. That is unacceptable.”

Read the Press Release

Infographic and Video

The Motor Voter process is one way a U.S. citizen can apply to register to vote when they get or review their driver’s license or ID card at a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Photo License Center. Watch a video to learn more about the Motor Voter process or download the associated Motor Voter infographic.

Fact Sheet

Does Motor Voter automatically register people to vote? Why did the auditors look at 6 months of data? What did the auditors recommend to fix the issues they found? Find answers to these questions and many more via our Fact Sheet.

Download the Fact Sheet

Resource Hub

Press Release: Read the official press release announcing this audit.

Audio/Video: Download audio and video recordings from the official press conference announcing this audit. (coming soon via PAcast.com)

Audit: Download a copy of the audit.

Fact Sheet: Download a list of answers to FAQs.

Infographic: Download an infographic that summarizes the audit. Watch a YouTube video that summarizes the audit.

Contact

April Hutcheson, Communications Director, Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General:
717-787-1381 or news@paauditor.gov