TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday that a software glitch in the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission led to the registration of about 6,600 people who said they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024.
What we know:
Gov. Sherrill said the error occurred under the previous administration and affected people who answered “no” when asked if they were U.S. citizens when applying for driver’s licenses and identification cards. Despite their answers, the system registered them to vote.
“Upon learning this information, I immediately ordered my general counsel to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of what occurred. I also ordered the removal from our voter rolls of any residents who were falsely registered between June 2023 and June 2024,” Sherrill said in a statement.
According to the governor, the Motor Vehicle Commission’s new administrator has begun the process of replacing the vendor responsible for the system.
What they say:
The state’s preliminary analysis found that fewer than 400 of the newly registered people actually voted.
These voters were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated and were scattered throughout the state.
“I am appalled by the reckless mistakes that made this possible and by the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time. This mistake did not happen on my watch, but accountability begins now,” Sherrill said in her statement released Tuesday.
“I am taking action to prevent something like this from happening in the future and ensure those responsible are held accountable,” she added.
Sherrill called the error and the time it took to uncover the problem “unacceptable” and took aim at both the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and the previous administration.
“But let me be clear, this entire situation is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring flaw. It is unacceptable that it took the MVC a year to fix this problem. And it is unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability or took action when it happened years ago.”
Speaker Coughlin released the following statement: “The integrity of our elections is a responsibility we all share. That’s why I commend the governor and administration for speaking openly to the people of New Jersey about this error and taking the immediate step of hiring a reputable independent law firm to investigate and make recommendations on how to prevent such an error from ever occurring again.”
New Jersey Republican Rep. Paul Kanitra also took to social media, calling it “one of the darkest days in this state’s election history.”
Dig Deeper:
Sherrill’s announcement comes less than a week after President Donald Trump revealed that his administration had released documents that he claimed would expose vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system.
“As the Trump administration seeks to exploit elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections. Let me be clear: Donald Trump has no credibility whatsoever on the issue of election integrity,” Sherrill said. “The difference is simple: When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, we don’t deny it, we don’t 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.”
What we don’t know:
It is not yet clear why the software flaw went undetected for an entire year or how long the process of removing ineligible voters and replacing the system provider will take.
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The White House responds to voter registration errors in New Jersey
The other side:
The White House issued a statement in response to Gov. Sherrill’s announcement on Tuesday, calling the errors a “direct result of Democratic policies.”
“This is the direct result of Democratic policies that reject basic citizenship checks – and the very reason Congress must pass the SAVE America Act immediately. The bill requires states to use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system to confirm citizenship before registering someone to vote in federal elections, a safeguard that New Jersey refuses to implement,” the statement reads in part.
The White House says the legislation would also require voter ID for federal elections.
“Every illegal vote weakens the voice of a lawful American citizen and undermines election integrity. These incidents are not random errors; they are the predictable result of Democratic policies that refuse to verify citizenship,” the statement continued.
The source: Information from the New Jersey Governor’s Office and previous reporting.
New Jersey election
https://www.fox29.com/news/new-jersey-software-error-registered-6600-non-citizens-vote-gov-sherrill-says
