Key facts
- A software error in New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission system improperly registered 6,600 non-citizens to vote.
- The error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024.
- Fewer than 400 of the non-citizens who were registered cast ballots.
- New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill stated that no election outcomes were affected by the error.
- Sherrill has ordered the removal of improper registrations and is replacing the vendor responsible for the system.
- The White House cited the incident to support President Trump's claims about non-citizen voting.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill announced that a software error in the state's Motor Vehicle Commission system led to approximately 6,600 non-citizens being improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024. Sherrill stated that fewer than 400 of these individuals cast ballots and that a preliminary analysis indicates no election outcomes were swayed.
Sherrill, who took office in January, attributed the issue to a software glitch and pledged immediate action, ordering the removal of all erroneously added voter registrations and replacing the vendor responsible for the system. An investigation into how the error occurred is also underway.
The revelation has become a focal point in the ongoing debate over election integrity, with the White House seizing on the disclosure to support President Donald Trump's claims that non-citizen voting is widespread. Trump has been advocating for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration, a measure Democrats and voting rights groups argue could disenfranchise legitimate voters.
President Trump has previously claimed that his administration discovered hundreds of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote in several states, including New Jersey, though he has not provided evidence for the number of ballots cast. Numerous studies and court rulings have indicated that voting violations by non-citizens are rare and often result from error or confusion rather than fraudulent intent. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has sent letters to four states, including New Jersey, requesting reviews of their voter rolls.