New Jersey says software error registered 6,600 noncitizens

New Jersey officials are removing roughly 6,600 noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls after a software error at the Motor Vehicle Commission improperly registered them to vote, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday.

Sherrill, a Democrat who took office in January, said the registrations occurred between June 2023 and June 2024 as people applied for driver’s licenses and identification cards. The affected residents had indicated on a keypad that they were not U.S. citizens, she said, but the system registered them anyway.

“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,” Sherrill said.

A preliminary review found that fewer than 400 of the improperly registered people cast ballots, according to the governor. She said they were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters and were spread across the state. Officials do not yet know which elections they voted in, she said, and there is “no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed” as a result.

Sherrill said the error stemmed from “a serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System” and called the failure 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.

The mistake happened during the administration of former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill said it was “unacceptable that no one in the prior administration brought this to light, demanded accountability or took action when it happened years ago.” Murphy did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to NBC News and CBS News.

Sherrill said she has ordered the erroneous registrations from that period removed, launched an investigation into what happened and will replace the vendor responsible for the system, Idemia, “to make sure nothing like this happens again.” Idemia did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

The disclosure comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to claim that noncitizens are voting in large numbers in U.S. elections. Trump used a prime-time White House speech last week to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would impose new photo ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements to vote.

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged in a letter that 35,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey and gave the state two weeks to respond and confirm whether it intended to collaborate with DHS “to ensure free, fair, and honest elections.” Sherrill said the state asked for evidence of that claim and “heard nothing back.” She also said she does not intend to turn personally identifying information over to the federal government because the Trump administration “continues to weaponize it against people.”

Mullin later responded to Sherrill on X, writing, “Appreciate you responding back to our letter” and, “Looking forward to working with you to secure your elections in the future.”

CBS News reported that Trump has claimed more than 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, and that a White House official said the estimate was based on commercial database analysis. David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told CBS News that method is likely to produce false positives and overstate the number of potential noncitizens on voter rolls.

“I guarantee you, that data includes a ton of people, maybe even a majority of people, who are absolutely eligible voters, and states would probably be breaking the law if they remove those voters from the rolls,” Becker said.

Sherrill said the state would not seek to punish the people who were wrongly registered. She said she is concerned their immigration status could be affected and that it would be “the utmost in hypocrisy for the state to charge them when it’s our fault.”