An investigation into New Jersey's controversial voter registration blunder continues to take new twists, with new details emerging this week.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has released an update about the ongoing probe, reporting that her administration has been moving swiftly to fix the errors that resulted in nearly 6,600 "non-citizens" being improperly registered to vote between 2023 and 2024.
As of Wednesday, about 5,100 of the registrants have been removed from the voter rolls, with more deletions potentially coming in the future.
The voters were registered as both Democrats and Republicans, and some were unaffiliated with a political party. Only 340 of them actually cast ballots – a number that is down from earlier estimates – and there is no evidence that any election was swayed, the governor's office said.
The problem was blamed on a software conflict with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission's automatic voter registration system.
>> READ MORE: NJ Purging Thousands From The Voter Rolls After Registration 'Error'
"I said we would conduct a thorough, complete, and fair investigation, and that is exactly what we are doing," Sherrill insisted Wednesday.
Here are some of the latest highlights from the probe, according to the governor's office:
Thousands Removed From The Voter Rolls – "Approximately 5,100 registered individuals have been placed in deleted status in the system, since they were only registered because of the system error and had no other registration or attestation to their eligibility to register to vote (i.e., additional transactions in the system that would bring up voter questions or request declarations on voter eligibility, such as renewing a driver's license). These individuals have been removed from New Jersey voter rolls because they were placed on the rolls in error."
County Officials Will Decide Fate Of The Rest – "Approximately 1,450 registered individuals have had their registration status changed to rejected to prevent them from voting pending additional review. They have been referred to county election officials for that review. These are individuals who were impacted by the system error but have separate voter registrations, attestations, or transactions in the system, such that further review is required to determine whether these individuals are eligible and should be registered. Everyone in this modified status will not be able to vote until their record is resolved and their eligibility is verified… In addition, the state has identified approximately 220 individuals who were affected by the software error and voted, but who also had previous voter registration or separate attestations to eligibility that are indicative of valid registrations. The state is referring this group of people to county officials for appropriate review to ensure all eligible voters are not disenfranchised."
VOTER ID IN NEW JERSEY
On a recent segment of News 12 New Jersey's "Ask Governor Sherrill," the former federal prosecutor said she is open to more election security if it comes from state lawmakers.
"I don't have a problem with voter ID," Sherrill said.
However, the governor said she opposes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. The proposed federal law would require voters to provide proof of citizenship at the time of registration – and a photo ID at the time of voting.
The controversial bill has gained the support of President Donald Trump and the White House, which says it should be something that "no American opposes." Sherrill and other critics have argued that it will lead to voter suppression.
The governor defended the overall concept of letting people register to vote at the state MVC.
When asked if voter registration could be removed from the MVC, the governor was blunt.
"I doubt it will unless anything's turned up that I haven't seen evidence of yet," Sherrill said, adding that it is possible state legislators could pass a law.
"If the legislature wants to change that, they're certainly welcome to put that vote forward," the governor said. "But we can run these systems in an accountable way."
The Trump administration has been demanding more information from state officials in New Jersey, including identifying details about the people who were improperly registered.
That request has been denied, Sherrill said.
"With no legal basis, you requested that I provide extensive personal information about thousands of New Jersey residents," she wrote in her official reply to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Providing that information would violate multiple federal laws, including the Privacy Act and the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, Sherrill alleged.
"We will continue to ensure that New Jersey's elections remain free, fair and secure," the governor said.
TRUMP WEIGHS IN
The White House released a statement about New Jersey's voter registration issues, alleging that the faulty registrations are the "direct result of Democrat policies that refuse basic citizenship checks."
"Every illegal ballot dilutes the voice of a lawful American citizen and undermines election integrity," the White House said.
President Donald Trump weighed in separately on Truth Social, pointing to a different Department of Homeland Security figure: "35,152 is the new number just released by Homeland Security of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey," he claimed, quoting a number that has since been questioned by several sources.
Sherrill has been among those contesting the federal government's numbers, saying that Trump has "zero credibility" when it comes to election integrity.
"For more than 10 years, [President Trump] has worked to undermine Americans' faith in our elections by spreading lies about legitimate election results, attempting to overturn a free and fair election, encouraging an attack on our Capitol when he couldn't accept the will of the voters, and defunding election security at the federal level," Sherrill alleged.
"The difference is simple: when we find a problem, we don't hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies," she said. "We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public."
It isn't the first time that the Trump administration has criticized the voter registration process in New Jersey.
Last year, former U.S. attorney Alina Habba announced that a new federal task force will be working with law enforcement officers from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to share information in an attempt to "efficiently and effectively remove individuals who are not eligible to vote from state voter lists."
HOW COMMON IS VOTER FRAUD IN NJ?
Some pundits have claimed there are very few elections that could have been impacted by New Jersey's registration scandal.
For scale, New Jersey had more than 2.2 million voters turn out for the 2024 presidential election. Out of that total, 400 votes would be about 0.018 percent, CNN reported.
Other pundits say what happened in New Jersey isn't proof that any fraud took place on the parts of the people who were registered.
"It is vital that we remember that those who were improperly registered were not responsible for that error; the software was – they did not misrepresent their status or intentionally register improperly," the New Jersey Institute For Social Justice opined.
"The improperly registered individuals were added to the voter rolls because of a software error and bear no responsibility for this mistake," the League of Women Voters of New Jersey agreed.
The conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation – which has been cited by the White House – lists only 53 cases of confirmed voter fraud in New Jersey dating back to 2003 on their online database.
Nationally, voter fraud is very rare and voter impersonation is "virtually nonexistent," the progressive-leaning Brennan Center for Justice claims.
"Noncitizens are not permitted to vote in state and federal elections," the nonprofit says. "It's a federal crime for noncitizens to register or vote in federal elections, and it's a crime under every state's laws. So it should come as no surprise that every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare."
A 2024 report from the Brookings Institution also found that election fraud is "miniscule" in the United States.
"The bottom line—whether it's vote fraud or government fraud—facts matter, and isolated instances of fraud do not constitute a widespread trend," the Brookings Institution said.
VOTING IN NEW JERSEY
There were 2.56 million Democrats, 1.68 million Republicans and 2.36 million unaffiliated voters registered in New Jersey as of July 1, according to state election data.
According to the New Jersey Division of Elections, in addition to being a U.S. citizen, people who want to register to vote in a state or federal election must be:
New Jersey does not require voters to present identification while voting, in most cases. However, if a voter does not provide valid identification at the time of registration, they must show identification at the polling place.
Learn more about voting in New Jersey here.
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