A Motor Vehicle Commission system glitch between June 2023 and June 2024 erroneously added non-citizens to voter rolls; fewer than 400 cast ballots.
7:44 PM
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday that a software error in the state's Motor Vehicle Commission led to approximately 6,600 non-citizens being registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024.
The error occurred when residents applying for driver's licenses or identification cards answered "no" when asked whether they were U.S. citizens, but the system registered them to vote anyway. "Through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway," Sherrill said in a statement.
Sherrill learned of the issue last Wednesday and immediately ordered an investigation. The governor said her preliminary analysis shows fewer than 400 of the erroneously registered individuals voted in elections since their registration. Those who voted were registered as Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated voters and were scattered across the state.
"There is no evidence that any elections were swayed," Sherrill said. Officials are removing ineligible voters from the state's systems and sending letters to affected residents.
The governor attributed the failure to a vendor and said the software will no longer be used. "This happened under the previous administration and, upon learning this information, I immediately ordered my chief counsel to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of what occurred," Sherrill said.
In response, Sherrill's office has hired an independent firm, CSG Law, to investigate the issue. The state plans to switch software vendors as soon as next year. Sherrill stated that her administration is taking a hard look at process failures and guardrails for the future.
"I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen," Sherrill said in a statement. She added that election integrity is core to her oath as governor and that it is her duty to ensure elections are free, fair, and secure.
The disclosure comes a week after President Trump delivered a primetime address in which he claimed 35,152 ineligible voters were enrolled in New Jersey.
Voters in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District chose a replacement for Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Thursday, with Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway as main contenders.
Roberto Sánchez requested nullification of votes cast abroad, which could affect nearly 300,000 ballots in a race where Keiko Fujimori leads by over 40,000 votes.
Virginia approved a referendum Tuesday to redraw its congressional districts, potentially flipping four Republican-held House seats to Democrats ahead of November midterms.
Democratic and Republican nominees secured Tuesday in two competitive midterm races. Bennett, a former Navy pilot, will face GOP Rep. Tom Kean in New Jersey's 7th District.
With almost 94% of votes counted, Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez are separated by less than one percentage point in Peru's runoff election.
The justices agreed Monday to decide whether federal law bars Arizona from requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
