The software company that was accused by New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill of causing a “glitch” that allowed more than 6,000 non-citizens to be registered to vote is disputing the governor’s claim, stating that non-citizens were explicitly approved by New Jersey’s Democrat leaders.
Sherrill confirmed the issue during a press conference on Tuesday, in which she stated that a software error in the Motor Vehicle Commission’s system had led to the registration of roughly 6,600 noncitizens to vote. The registrations occurred between June 2023 and June 2024 during applications for driver’s licenses and identification cards, when individuals self-reported that they were not U.S. citizens.
“Last week I learned that a serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System led to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024, almost three years prior to my taking office,” the governor said. “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 further stated that a preliminary review found fewer than 400 of the individuals had cast ballots. She announced that the state would remove the registrations from the voter rolls and had engaged an outside group to investigate the circumstances.
The Democrat governor also noted that the Motor Vehicle Commission had begun the process of replacing the vendor associated with the system.
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The software vendor, French technology company IDEMIA, responded by disputing the description of the issue as a software error or glitch attributable to its system. The company maintained that the data it collected and submitted aligned with the design specifications provided by the state.
“The 6,600 records submitted to the [Motor Vehicle Commission] and Division of Elections contained correct information according to the design specifications as set out by the state,” a spokesperson for the company stated. “All 6,600 individuals indicated ‘Yes’ to wanting to register to vote and ‘NO’ to being a US Citizen.”
The statement continued, “At no point was a noncitizen ever marked as a citizen in the database.”
IDEMIA further stated that the company’s role in contributing to such an error is limited. “IDEMIA does not control or manage voter enrollment, our role is simply to collect self-reported citizenship and interest data,” they said before pointing blame at the state.
“This leads to more questions – if the Division of Elections had missing information which is required to register in the State of New Jersey, did the Division of Elections approve these individuals be added to the Voter Rolls?” It also observed that the data transmitted to the Division of Elections lacked certain details, such as party affiliation.
In response to the revelation, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division opened a formal investigation.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the division, issued a statement addressing the registrations and votes. “Today, NJ Gov. Sherrill stated that 400 non-citizens voted in elections. This is unacceptable and illegal! The Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department is investigating this unlawful dilution of American votes,” she said.
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[ H/T Trending Politics ]
