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New Jersey’s governor announced Tuesday afternoon that thousands of noncitizens were registered to vote in her state — and some voted in past elections.
Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill said that a “serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System led to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024, almost three years prior to my taking office.”
“These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” according to Sherrill.
Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey, during an interview in New York, US, on Friday, May 2, 2025. Sherrill, who is also a former federal prosecutor, announced her candidacy last year for New Jersey governor, citing her leadership experience as a US Navy helicopter commander and federal prosecutor. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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She stressed that while the “error” occurred under the previous administration, headed by Democrat Phil Murphy, she ordered her administration’s attorney to look into the matter and remove the illegally-registered voters from the rolls.
“Our preliminary analysis shows fewer than 400 individuals who were newly registered for the first time because of the error voted,” she said. “They were registered as Democrats, Republicans and Unaffiliated voters and were scattered across the state.”
“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, emphasizing for the third time that the improper voting didn’t happen on her watch.
(Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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In the same message admitting that people in her state improperly voted, Sherrill then attacked President Donald Trump for what she described as spreading lies about legitimacy of American elections.
An elected New Jersey official slammed Democrats for failing on the issue of election integrity.
“This is another example of Democrats failing to secure elections. If Democrats would embrace voter ID – which has broad public support – the MVC’s voter registration failures would have been corrected at the ballot box,” said NJ Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio, R-Hackettstown. “New Jersey needs voter ID, because citizens deserve confidence in election results and Trenton Democrats have proven they do not respond to known problems in the voter rolls.”
The Republican National Committee’s spokesperson on election integrity similarly slammed the New Jersey governor for her classification of the issue.
“Mikie Sherrill says election integrity is ‘fundamental to our democracy,’ yet just last month the RNC and NJGOP uncovered hundreds of noncitizens on New Jersey’s voter rolls and records of noncitizens voting in past elections,” Ally Trilio told Digital.
“Every time Democrats say noncitizen voting is a ‘non-issue,’ voters learn about another case that proves otherwise. It’s time to stop making excuses and pass the SAVE America Act.”
An election official checks a voter’s photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas. ((AP Photo/Eric Gay, File))
In June, Digital exclusively reported that noncitizens were registered to vote in the state over a period of years. Some of them voted in elections. Others, when attempting to become naturalized citizens, copped to being on the voter rolls and said they were registered by mistake.
The New Jersey Republican Party (NJGOP) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) requested voter rolls from all 21 counties in the Garden State and found multiple instances of noncitizens seeking naturalization asking to be removed from the rolls, claiming they were unknowingly registered to vote. Most were registered as Democrats.
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In official letters viewed by Digital from Atlantic County, Superintendent of Elections & Commissioner of Registration Maureen Bugdon certified that noncitizens came to her asking to be removed.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill addresses a crowd in Middlesex County. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images)
“Please allow this letter to confirm that on today’s date, the below referenced individual came before this office to confirm her registration and voter status,” a typical letter read. “She relayed that she did not wish to be a New Jersey registered voter and does not understand how she became registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles, allegedly.”
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Other documents showed noncitizens directly asking to be removed from the rolls through a state voter registration cancellation form.
When prompted about why they wished to be removed, the vast majority of the unknowingly registered voters checked a box labeled “other” and wrote that they were not citizens.
Digital reached out to the Federal Election Commission.
