New Jersey officials disclosed Tuesday that thousands of non-citizens were added to the state’s voter rolls due to what authorities are calling a software error in the Motor Vehicle Commission’s registration system.
Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill announced that approximately 6,600 non-citizens who explicitly indicated they were not U.S. citizens while applying for driver’s licenses and identification cards were nonetheless registered to vote. The registrations occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, according to the governor’s statement.
“These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherrill wrote in a social media post.
Investigation and Remedial Action
Sherrill, who took office earlier this year, said she learned of the issue last week and immediately ordered an investigation. The state’s election office is now working to identify and remove any non-citizens from the voter rolls, while officials also plan to replace the vendor responsible for the system that caused the error.
According to a preliminary analysis cited by the governor, fewer than 400 of the improperly registered non-citizens actually cast ballots. Sherrill emphasized that the error occurred under the previous administration and attributed responsibility to her predecessor.
“This happened under the previous administration and, upon learning this information, I immediately ordered my chief counsel to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of what occurred,” Sherrill said during a Tuesday press conference. “I also ordered the removal of any residents from our voter rolls who were erroneously added between June 2023 and June 2024.”
Governor Defends State’s Response
While acknowledging the severity of the problem, Sherrill defended her administration’s handling of the matter and drew a contrast with what she characterized as efforts to politicize election integrity issues.
“I want to underscore how seriously I take this matter. As a military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, and as a former federal prosecutor, I believe the integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy,” the governor said. “I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time.”
Sherrill directed sharp criticism at the Trump administration, accusing it of attempting “to weaponize elections for political gain.” She stated that former President Donald Trump “has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity,” citing his challenges to the 2020 election results and the January 6 Capitol attack.
“The difference is simple: when we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public. That’s what accountability and good governance look like, and that’s exactly what my administration is doing,” the governor said.
Federal Scrutiny of New Jersey Voter Rolls
The disclosure comes amid ongoing federal efforts to audit New Jersey’s voter registration system. The Justice Department filed suit against New Jersey in February for what it described as the state’s “failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded to Sherrill’s announcement by highlighting what she suggested was inconsistency in the state’s position, noting that New Jersey is among states that have declined federal assistance in preventing such registration errors. “I note that New Jersey is one of the states refusing to allow @TheJusticeDept @CivilRights to help them avoid exactly such ‘errors,'” Dhillon wrote, adding “Stay tuned.”
The Trump administration has made voter roll maintenance a priority, seeking to ensure that non-citizens are not registered to vote in states across the country. The federal-state tensions over election administration have intensified as the Justice Department pursues legal action to compel cooperation from states that have resisted providing voter registration data.
State officials have not yet provided a timeline for completing the removal of improperly registered individuals from the voter rolls or announced specific actions being taken against the vendor responsible for the software system.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-jersey-registered-thousands-of-non-citizens-to-vote-due-to-software-error