Software vendor says NJ knew 6,600 noncitizens registered to vote — and approved them anyway

WASHINGTON — The software company that New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill blamed for 6,600 noncitizens getting put onto the voter rolls insists that local officials were responsible for illegally registering the immigrants.

Sherrill (D) claimed Tuesday that a “serious software error” in the state’s Motor Vehicle System involving French tech company IDEMIA caused the mishap, which led to some 400 noncitizens voting.

But IDEMIA said that the state had access to data showing that those individuals were not citizens — but apparently registered them to vote anyway.

The problem came from software that the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission used to register people to vote when they signed up for a New Jersey ID — a similar practice employed in dozens of states.

ID recipients who said they wanted to register to vote, but declared that they were noncitizens, were added to voter rolls in 2023 and 2024 — despite it being illegal under federal law.

“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,” Lisa Shoemaker, a spokesperson for IDEMIA, told The Post on Wednesday.

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“All 6,600 individuals indicated ‘Yes’ to wanting to register to vote and ‘NO’ to being a US Citizen,” she added.

“This information was recorded correctly and always available.”

“At no point was a noncitizen ever marked as a citizen in the database.”

IDEMIA’s claims raise questions about why voter registration data submitted during applications for drivers’ licenses or identification wasn’t properly screened by New Jersey.

It’s not clear whether New Jersey had any safeguards in place for people who made mistakes — or situations where people lied about being citizens.

A New Jersey state official disputed IDEMIA’s claims.

“No, that is not correct,” the official told The Post. “Anytime somebody answers ‘no’ to the citizenship question, that record should not be transmitted to the Division of Elections.”

The debacle took place under Sherrill’s predecessor, former Gov. Phil Murphy (D). She announced Tuesday that the state has hired an outside group, CSG, to investigate the matter.

“IDEMIA does not control or manage voter enrollment, our role is simply to collect self-reported citizenship and interest data,” Shoemaker explained.

“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.”

Shoemaker said that IDEMIA believes the data sent over to the Division of Elections also missed key information such as party affiliation.

President Trump and his allies have pointed to the New Jersey scandal as a case in point for why more robust guardrails are needed to protect election integrity.

For months, Trump has been championing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote, among other measures.

Shortly after Sherrill’s stunning announcement about the 6,600 non-citizens in New Jersey getting registered to vote, the Justice Department demanded the governor fork over key data, including the names of the people who were erroneously added to the voter rolls.

The DOJ also cited the debacle in a filing for its ongoing lawsuit against the Garden State seeking access to its voter roll data.

“The Trump administration has a long history of weaponizing the Justice Department for political purposes and attempting to overturn election results,” Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for Sherrill, told The Post.

“Governor Sherrill has been clear that she will use all the legal tools available to her to protect New Jerseyans’ personal information.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) on Wednesday demanded that the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget probe federal contracts with IDEMIA in response.

The vendor manages systems for TSA PreCheck and driver’s license programs in most states.