Hundreds Of Noncitizens Voted In NJ Due To MVC Error, Sherrill Says

Gov. Mikie Sherrill said a software error in New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission system led to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens, with fewer than 400 of them going on to vote, according to a statement from her office Tuesday.

The error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, under the previous administration, Sherrill said. Affected individuals had answered "no" when asked on a keypad whether they were U.S. citizens while applying for driver's licenses or identification cards, but the system registered them to vote regardless.

"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 said.

The Governor said she learned of the error last week and immediately ordered her chief counsel to open an investigation. She also ordered the removal of any residents erroneously added to New Jersey's voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024.

The MVC administrator she appointed has begun replacing the vendor responsible for administering the system, according to the statement.

The fewer than 400 individuals who voted because of the error were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters and were scattered across the state, Sherrill 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 said. "This failure didn't occur under my watch, but accountability starts now."

The governor's statement follows a July 16 letter from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to New Jersey Secretary of State Dale Caldwell, which said a preliminary federal review found as many as 35,152 potential noncitizens on the state's voter rolls. DHS said the letter was based on a comparison of New Jersey's publicly available voter registration data with federal immigration records, and that 19,497 of those registrations matched on name, date of birth, address and Social Security number. The department asked New Jersey to begin a verification process with federal officials before any further action is taken.

Mullin sent similar letters to election officials in California, Nevada and Pennsylvania on the same day, saying preliminary DHS reviews identified more than 250,000 potential noncitizen registrations across the four states combined — including 190,832 in California, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. The letters asked each state to respond within two weeks.

"Election security is national security," Mullin said. "Only Americans should be electing American leaders."

Sherrill, a military veteran and former federal prosecutor, said the state's error was distinct from the DHS effort and reiterated her position on election security.

"Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity," Sherrill said. "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."

"New Jerseyans should have confidence that every eligible citizen can vote, every lawful vote will be counted, and every reasonable step will be taken to protect the integrity of our elections," Sherrill said.

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