More than 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey

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As many as 6,600 non-U.S. citizens registered to vote in New Jersey in 2023 and 2024 because of a software flaw, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday, July 21. Fewer than 400 of them cast ballots, she said.At a Statehouse press event, Sherrill explained that she found out last week about the flaw, which occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, years before she took office.The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump asserted without evidence that elections that in the United States have numerous weaknesses.Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his agency had identified more than 250,000 potential noncitizens illegally registered to vote in four states. He said he sent a letter asking secretaries of state in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania to review their voter rolls ​and respond within two weeks.The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.On social media, Homeland Security pointed to the news as a reason Congress should pass the SAVE America Act, which, among other changes, would require states to submit their voter rolls to a national database that includes citizenship information. The bill is stalled in the Republican-led Congress despite Trump's support for it.How were the erroneous NJ voter registrations created?Sherrill explained that noncitizens involved had answered “no” while applying for their driver licenses and identification cards with the Motor Vehicle Commission but were registered to vote anyway. New Jersey is among several states that allow noncitizens to hold driver's licenses and other state-issued ID cards.“This happened under the previous administration and, upon learning this information, I immediately ordered my chief counsel to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of what occurred,” Sherrill said. “I also ordered the removal of any residents from our voter rolls who were erroneously added between June 2023 and June 2024.”Sherrill was proceeded by fellow Democrat Phil Murphy.The governor said that fewer than 400 of those people actually voted and were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated in all parts of the Democratic-leaning state.Sherrill noted that she takes such matters seriously, both as a “military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution and as a former federal prosecutor.”Sherrill said the find shouldn't lend credence to Trump's allegations of widespread cases of noncitizens being registered to vote.“As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections. Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity," she said in a statement from her office. "For more than ten years, he has worked to undermine Americans' faith in our elections by spreading lies about legitimate election results, attempting to overturn a free and fair election, encouraging an attack on our Capitol when he couldn't accept the will of the voters, and defunding election security at the federal level."There is no evidence that noncitizen voting has ever been significant enough to impact an election’s outcome, according to a 2026 Bipartisan Policy Center report. States routinely review the accuracy of their voter rolls and sporadic cases of noncitizen voting are investigated and prosecuted.Sherrill: 'This entire situation is unacceptable'She said she was “appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time.”“Let me be clear, this entire situation is unacceptable,” Sherrill said. “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.”Rosalie Johnson, chief administrator of the agency, said they were actively working with a new vendor to make sure such errors didn't happen again.There were 6,688,367 registered voters in New Jersey as of last month’s primary election, according to the state’s Division of Elections.Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com