Gov. Mikie Sherrill says software glitch wrongly registered 6,600 non-citizens to vote in New Jersey; removal underway

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has ordered the removal of self-identified non-citizens who were mistakenly added to the state's voter rolls after a software error incorrectly registered around 6,600 people. Fewer than 400 of those individuals ultimately cast ballots.

The incident could fuel President Donald Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud, which critics argue risk undermining public confidence in US elections. Seeking to clarify the impact of the glitch, Governor Sherrill said there is no evidence that any election outcome was affected by the error.

Erroneous voter registrations

The software error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, resulting in the voter registration of people who had applied for driver's licences or state ID cards, even after selecting "No" when asked whether they were US citizens. According to Sherrill's office, those who later voted were registered as Democrats, Republicans or unaffiliated voters.

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The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) has begun replacing IDEMIA, the vendor that managed the system. MVC Chair and Chief Administrator Rosalie Johnson said the agency is now working with a new vendor, with the replacement system expected to launch next year.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump's administration continues its push to crack down on non-citizen voting. Before the disclosure, the Department of Homeland Security had alleged that New Jersey's voter rolls included more than 35,000 non-citizens.

According to Politico, the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey GOP had repeatedly raised concerns that non-citizens were listed on the state's voter rolls. Republicans said they had identified instances in which non-citizens contacted county election officials after discovering they had been registered to vote without their knowledge.

Sherrill said the wrongly registered individuals are spread across the state and were registered under a range of party affiliations, with the majority listed as unaffiliated voters.

The Politico report adds that the incident could reignite debate over New Jersey's 2019 law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licences. It remains unclear how many of the 6,600 wrongly registered non-citizens had obtained licences under that law. However, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she does not believe the state's existing laws need to be revisited in response to the voter registration error.