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A software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle system led to more than 6,000 noncitizens being registered on the state’s voter rolls, the governor said Tuesday.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, approximately 6,600 people who applied for state IDs were automatically registered as voters despite indicating they were not U.S. citizens, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said in a news release.
“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.
Of the 6,600 people who were added, fewer than 400 individuals voted, a preliminary analysis indicated.
New Jersey is now removing residents who were “erroneously added” to voter rolls and replacing the vendor who is responsible for administering New Jersey’s system.
Sherrill emphasized that the error occurred under former Governor Phil Murphy’s administration and that she was “appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen.”
“This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now. I am taking action to prevent anything like it from occurring in the future and make sure those responsible are held accountable,” Sherrill said.
“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. That's my responsibility, and it's one I will never stop fighting to uphold,” Sherrill said.
The announcement comes four days after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused New Jersey and three other states of having more than 250,000 noncitizens on their voter rolls.
Mullin demanded New Jersey and the other states’ officials comply with the administration’s “SAVE program,” among other election security enhancements, or face consequences, such as revoked federal funding, fines, penalties or even prison time.
The new mandate is just one piece of the Trump administration’s efforts to implement new election security policies that would add more regulations around voting. While there is no evidence any U.S. election has been swayed by voter fraud, President Donald Trump often promotes the falsehood because he refused to admit he lost the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden.
Critics have said some of Trump’s desired policies, such as requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, are a form of voter suppression.
Sherrill, a Democrat, said the discovery of the noncitizens on voter rolls does not give Trump credibility on election integrity.
“Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity,” Sherrill said.
She added: “For more than ten years, he 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.”
David Becker, the executive director at the Center for Election Innovation & Research Executive Director David Becker emphasized that administrative errors, such as the one in New Jersey, “are very rare and affect a very small fraction of voters.”
Becker said research shows noncitizen voting is extremely rare.
“In this case, the number of wrongful registrations represents a minuscule fraction, roughly 0.1%, of New Jersey’s total active voter registration records in 2024,” Becker said in a press release.
“The number of potential ballots cast from those incorrect registrations would represent roughly 0.009% of all ballots cast in New Jersey’s 2024 general election, when Kamala Harris defeated President Trump by more than 250,000 votes. Joe Biden actually defeated Trump by a margin three times as large before this error took place,” Becker added.
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