A computer error in New Jersey allowed hundreds of non-citizens to vote in elections there. Gov. Mikey Sherrill announced that a computer error added about 6,600 non-citizens to the voter rolls in 2023 and 2024.
The individuals applying for driver’s licenses indicated that they weren’t citizens, but the software registered them anyway.
The governor said about 400 of them actually cast ballots.
Sherrill’s statement explained, “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.”
Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently sent letters to New Jersey and three other states warning that they appeared to have tens of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote.
And President Trump touted an investigation by DHS, which said it identified about 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections across the country. It said most of them were in California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
The White House said the New Jersey incident highlights the need for the “SAVE America Act” which requires voters to show proof of citizenship. The measure has passed the U.S. House but has not gotten a vote in the Senate, where even some Republicans oppose it.
“American voters deserve to have confidence that our elections are safe and secure,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Nineteen states already allow people who are in the U.S. illegally to hold driver’s licenses and other state-issued ID cards.
The Trump administration points out, “AMERICA lags behind other nations in enforcing basic and necessary election protections —
- India and Brazil tie voter I.D. to a biometric database, while the United States largely relies on self-attestation for citizenship.
- Germany and Canada require paper ballots when tabulating votes, while the U.S. lacks basic chain-of-custody protections.
- Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person.
- Late arrivals do not count—while American elections now feature mass voting by mail, even after Election Day.”
It’s 99 days until the midterm elections, Democrats are looking to take control of Congress, while Republicans are seeking to hold on to their slim majority. Democrats need three seats to flip the House and four seats to take the Senate.
President Trump is campaigning in battleground states and urging Congress to pass his Voter ID legislation.
