New Jersey’s Republican legislative leaders are pressing the law firm conducting an internal investigation of the state’s voter-registration controversy to determine whether government failures, inadequate oversight or a flawed state-approved process allowed thousands of noncitizens to be registered.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton) and Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown) sent a ten-part inquiry Monday to Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, the Roseland law firm founded by former U.S. Senator and state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, a Republican.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration retained the firm to investigate how information belonging to approximately 6,600 people who identified themselves as noncitizens was transmitted through the Motor Vehicle Commission to election officials between June 2023 and June 2024.
The administration initially said approximately 400 of those individuals voted, but later placed the number at roughly 340. About 5,100 registrations have been moved to ineligible status, while approximately 1,450 records were sent to counties for additional review.
“Given the gravity of this breach, it is imperative that we take all necessary steps to guarantee the security of future elections, ensure accountability, and restore public confidence in our democratic process,” Bucco and DiMaio wrote.
The Republican leaders asked Chiesa’s firm to resolve a central disagreement between Sherrill and IDEMIA, the state contractor responsible for the MVC’s electronic application.
Sherrill has blamed a technology error that permitted applicants to continue to the voter-registration portion of an MVC transaction after answering “no” when asked whether they were United States citizens. IDEMIA has maintained that its system correctly recorded and transmitted both the negative citizenship response and the applicant’s subsequent decision to register, following a process approved by the state.
“Did the software operate contrary to its approved specifications, as the Governor suggests, or did it operate as designed pursuant to a deficient State-approved process, as IDEMIA suggests?” Bucco and DiMaio asked. “To what extent did human error, inadequate oversight, or procedural failures contribute to the improper registrations?”
They also want investigators to establish precisely what applicants saw after identifying themselves as noncitizens, including whether they personally selected Democratic, Republican, or unaffiliated status.
“If not, by what means and by whom was a party affiliation assigned to these individuals?” the lawmakers asked.
The letter seeks a breakdown of how the affected individuals voted — by mail, during early in-person voting or at Election Day polling places — and in which elections their ballots were cast.
Bucco and DiMaio also asked whether anyone voted in multiple elections and how the number of potentially unlawful ballots compared with the certified margin in each affected race.
Their questions extend across several levels of government. The two leaders want the investigation to define the responsibilities of IDEMIA, the MVC, the Department of State, the Division of Elections, and county election officials for reviewing citizenship information and verifying eligibility.
For each entity, they asked the firm to identify what citizenship information was available, what automated or manual checks were in place, why those safeguards failed, and what corrective measures have been or should be implemented.
Bucco and DiMaio are also seeking what they called a “comprehensive and exhaustive timeline” showing when officials in the Murphy and Sherrill administrations learned about the problem.
That timeline would begin with the initial discovery under former Gov. Phil Murphy and include the date, time, source, and method of every relevant communication through the point when Sherrill was notified.
Republicans have repeatedly questioned why the issue was not publicly disclosed sooner and when county election officials were informed. The letter asks which counties received notice before Sherrill’s July 21 announcement, who contacted them, what information was provided, and whether they were directed to take any action.
The lawmakers also want Chiesa’s firm to investigate beyond the 6,600 people who truthfully answered “no” to the citizenship question.
They asked whether the state has attempted to identify noncitizens who may have incorrectly answered “yes” and whether New Jersey employs any citizenship-verification safeguards beyond what the letter described as the “honor system.”
The GOP leaders similarly urged investigators not to confine their review to the June 2023-to-June 2024 period identified by the administration. They cited reports of noncitizens being registered before and after that window and asked what assurance exists that similar problems did not occur during other periods.
Their final question asks Chiesa’s firm to disclose the terms and scope of its work, including which agencies, officials, vendors, records, and years it will examine. They also want to know whether the inquiry will cover registrations submitted outside the MVC’s automatic voter-registration system and include interviews with current and former government officials and vendor employees.
Despite the pointed questions, Bucco and DiMaio opened their letter by praising the firm’s reputation and expressing confidence that its investigation would be independent.
“We recognize that your attorneys are highly regarded for their professionalism, integrity, and sound judgment,” they wrote.
The Republican leaders said the firm’s answers could help the state prevent another failure and restore public trust.
“All New Jerseyans deserve a voter registration system that is accurate, secure, and worthy of the public’s trust,” Bucco and DiMaio said.
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