Democratic Governor Acknowledges Glitch Registered Thousands of Noncitizen Voters While Criticizing Reckless Regime

More than 6,000 noncitizens in New Jersey were wrongly placed on the state’s voter registration rolls after a Department of Motor Vehicles software error, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday. Fewer than 400 of those individuals went on to cast ballots in various elections, according to the governor.

The startling disclosure, coming only months before the midterm elections, is likely to intensify scrutiny of election administration and could provide fresh ammunition for President Donald Trump as he tries to revive his repeatedly debunked claims about widespread threats to U.S. election integrity.

At a press conference, Sherrill, who took office in January, said about 6,600 noncitizens were improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024 because of a DMV software glitch tied to an outside vendor. She said New Jersey is now in the process of phasing out that vendor.

The individuals had identified themselves as noncitizens, but were nevertheless added to the voter rolls in error.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said Tuesday that state officials learned of the problem last week and quickly opened an investigation to determine how the registration error occurred.

She emphasized that there is currently no evidence the “less than 400” noncitizens who voted changed the outcome of any election.

Those noncitizen voters included Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters and were “scattered across the state,” Sherrill said. New Jersey officials are now working to remove all 6,600 noncitizens from the state’s voter registration lists.

“We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed,” Sherrill said, while calling the software glitch “unacceptable.”

‘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.

‘It’s unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error, it’s unacceptable that the MVC took a year to get this issue fixed and it’s unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability or took action when it happened years ago.’ 

The number of noncitizen voters who participated in New Jersey’s elections is significant. 

There are very few large-scale instances of voter fraud or noncitizen voting in the US. 

Still, Trump and his allies will almost certainly seize on the news to cast doubt on the integrity of US election systems, and revive debunked claims about noncitizen voting.

As if anticipating this, Sherrill used her statement to highlight the contrast between Trump’s claims and her office’s approach the error.

‘As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections,’ she said. ‘The difference is simple: when we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public. That’s what accountability and good governance look like, and that’s exactly what my administration is doing.’

The Trump administration seized on news of the glitch to urge support for the SAVE America bill, or the Trump-backed legislation that would require voters to show proof of US citizenship at the time of registration.

‘American voters deserve to have confidence that our elections are safe and secure – President Trump will never stop fighting to make that happen and all patriotic Americans should join in his effort,’ White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Mail in a statement. 

Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have raised concerns about the SAVE America legislation, which they said could create undue hurdles for certain voters and curtail the participation of many Americans.