6,600 noncitizens registered to vote after error in New Jersey motor vehicle system, governor says
HADDONFIELD, New Jersey (AP) — About 6,600 people who indicated they were noncitizens while obtaining New Jersey driver's licenses and other state IDs were improperly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday.
The Democratic governor, who took office this year, blamed a Motor Vehicle Commission system software error but said a preliminary analysis showed that fewer than 400 of those who registered that way went on to cast ballots.
The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to assert that voting by noncitizens is rampant in U.S. elections, even though it’s rare and, when caught, can be punished as a felony that can lead to deportation.
Sherrill promised immediate action and said she has ordered that all erroneously added voter registrations from that period be removed. She also is replacing the vendor who ran the system and is launching an investigation into how the error happened.
“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 in a statement.
She also attempted to head off any future criticism of the issue from the president.
“As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections,” she said.
The White House on Tuesday used the revelation to promote Trump's SAVE America Act, which would require people to show documentary proof of citizenship before they register to vote and impose voter ID requirements nationwide. The measure has passed the U.S. House but has not gotten a vote in the Senate, where even some Republicans oppose it.
“American voters deserve to have confidence that our elections are safe and secure,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Sherrill also noted that the noncitizens who registered did so as Democrats, Republicans and independents. About 6.9 million people in New Jersey are registered to vote and more than 4 million cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election.
Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, was governor when the error occurred. A representative for the former governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Christine Hanlon, chair of the Republican party organization in New Jersey, said voter registration needs to be improved and that a bipartisan investigation should dig into what happened, including why the registrations weren't disclosed previously.
"The system and verification process must be improved in order to safeguard our elections,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “The public also deserves to know why this was covered up and who was responsible for keeping this critical information from the public.”
In a speech last week, Trump touted an investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, which said it had identified about 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections across the country. It said most of them were in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday suggested it was that report that prompted Sherrill to take action.
“Appreciate you responding back to our letter, @GovSherrillNJ. This should’ve been done a LONG time ago,” he said in a message on X. “Just ONE illegal vote cancels out the vote of a U.S. citizen.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State said in an emailed statement provided by Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office Tuesday that “evidence has shown that noncitizen voting is extremely rare across the country, including in Pennsylvania.” The department added that it would review any information the Department of Homeland Security provided to “evaluate the validity of these claims.”
New Jersey is among 19 states that allow people who are in the U.S. illegally to hold driver's licenses and other state-issued ID cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Every state allows noncitizens who have legal status in the U.S. to hold a license.
The NCSL also says that about half the states have automatic voter registration in which eligible people who obtain licenses or, in some cases, other state services, can opt in to voter registration.
In Oregon, officials in 2024 found that about 1,600 people were registered to vote through the state's DMV even though they didn't show proof of citizenship. Most of them were later confirmed to be citizens. The number of people wrongly registered grew by more than 100 by last year, but the state found that only about 30 ineligible voters had cast ballots.
Colorado officials said in 2022 that they had mistakenly sent postcards to 30,000 noncitizens to encourage them to register. The state said none would be allowed if they tried to do so.
A 2019 state audit of California's then-new DMV registration program found numerous errors, some that might have allowed about 1,500 people to incorrectly register to vote. Of those, some might not have been U.S. citizens.
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Associated Press writer Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
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