About 6,600 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote because of a software error in New Jersey’s motor vehicle system, though fewer than 400 cast ballots, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday.
Sherrill said the error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, during the previous administration, after applicants for driver’s licenses and state identification cards correctly indicated they were not U.S. citizens but were registered to vote because of what she described as a “serious” software failure.
A preliminary review found that the roughly 400 people who cast ballots after being accidentally being added to the voter rolls were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters.
The Democratic governor said she learned of the issue last week and immediately ordered an investigation led by her chief counsel. She also directed state officials to remove anyone erroneously added to the voter rolls during that period. Additionally, Sherrill said the new administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has begun replacing the vendor responsible for administering the system.
Sherrill called the error a “reckless failure” and accused the previous administration of lacking transparency.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” she said. “This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now.”
The disclosure comes days after President Donald Trump delivered a speech on election security, reviving false claims about the 2020 election and alleging vulnerabilities in voter registration and voting systems as Republicans make election integrity a central issue ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump alleged the Department of Homeland Security identified “approximately 278,000 noncitizens who are registered to vote in federal elections,” citing a review of state voter rolls and public records.
“As President Trump has said, there is nothing more important than the integrity of our elections. And this latest incident underscores the absolute necessity of the SAVE America Act.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement Tuesday.
Sherrill sought to distinguish her administration’s response from Trump’s repeated false claims of widespread voter fraud. She accused the president of undermining confidence in U.S. elections through years of baseless allegations about election results and efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections,” Sherrill said.
Federal law prohibits non-U.S. citizens from voting in federal elections, and states routinely maintain voter registration rolls to remove ineligible voters. Election experts have said instances of noncitizen voting are rare, though administrative errors occasionally occur.
Sherrill said her administration would continue investigating how the software malfunction occurred and will implement safeguards to prevent similar errors in the future.
“When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies,” she said. “We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public.”
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