More than 6,000 noncitizens were mistakenly added to New Jersey’s voter registration rolls between June 2023 and June 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday.
Roughly 400 of those noncitizens voted, the Democrat governor said, before adding, “We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed.”
The names have been removed from the state’s voter rolls. Sherrill then attacked Trump for questioning the legitimacy of American elections.
A ‘Serious Software Error’
The governor blamed a “serious software error” at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which she said automatically registered the noncitizens when they applied for driver’s licenses or ID cards, even though they answered “no” on a keypad when asked whether they were citizens.
According to the New Jersey Globe, a French firm called IDEMIA owns the service provider for identity verification services that is being blamed for the error. Sherrill said the state is looking for a new software vendor and has hired an independent firm, CSG Law, to investigate the matter.
According to the Globe, it is unclear when state officials at the Motor Vehicle Commission became aware of the error, which occurred under the administration of former Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy.
His successor Sherrill said she is “appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen, and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time.”
DHS: 35,000 Noncitizens Registered in the Garden State
The 6,600 figure is only a fraction of the noncitizens on the Garden State voter rolls, according to President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security.
In his primetime speech last Thursday, Trump claimed up to 35,152 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey, with a total of nearly 250,000 noncitizens in just four states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and California.
Sherrill said DHS has sent the state a letter citing the 35,152 figure. “We have asked them for any evidence of this, where they got that number, who this is,” she said. “We’ve received nothing back.”
Actually, the July 16 letter itself describes where the figure comes from. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the preliminary findings came from comparing the state’s publicly available voter registration information with federal immigration records.
The agency identified 19,497 New Jersey voter registrations where the individual’s name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number matched records indicating the person is a noncitizen. Mullin wrote that a broader review suggests the number could be as high as 35,152.
As New Jersey-based immigration law firm Lee & Garasia warned, a noncitizen could press “yes” while navigating the screens at MVC and find themselves automatically registered to vote. New Jersey does not have robust upfront verification of citizenship, relying on self-reporting.
Last year, while still serving in Congress, Sherrill voted against the SAVE Act, which would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
Mullin is urging Sherrill to work with DHS to clear the voter rolls. “The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification,” he said in the letter.
Mullin gave the state until July 30 to begin the verification process.
“I hope that you share in the commitment to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in our federal elections,” Mullin wrote. “Working together, we can more effectively protect U.S. elections.”
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
