U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rejects MVC letters on voter registration error

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not accept letters from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission explaining that a software error mistakenly placed thousands of noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls, a federal immigration official said.

Keith Dorr, field office director for USCIS’s Mount Laurel office, said his agency has begun receiving copies of the MVC notices from affected individuals who have applied for citizenship.

“Our agency is responding back that the letter, letting them know that we will not be accepting them since the letters are not addressed to a specific person and there is no signature and/or seal on the letters,” Dorr said in an email obtained by the New Jersey Globe.

The rejection could pose a new problem for noncitizens seeking naturalization who were placed on the voter rolls through no fault of their own.  Citizenship applications can include questions about voter registration and voting, making documentation of the state’s errors potentially important during the immigration review process.

The MVC notified roughly 6,600 noncitizens that they were improperly registered after selecting “No” when asked whether they were U.S. citizens during an agency transaction between June 12, 2023, and June 25, 2024.

The July 24 notice, printed on MVC letterhead and attributed to the agency’s Legal Affairs Division, said a software problem transmitted their information to the Statewide Voter Registration System despite their answers. But the letters were not individually addressed and apparently lacked the authentication USCIS requires.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill has said the registrations occurred “through no fault of their own.” Fewer than 400 of the affected individuals cast ballots, according to the governor.

Sherrill said the state would not prosecute those mistakenly registered, but acknowledged that she could not speak for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Others, including State Sen. Michael Testa (R-Vineland), say those who voted illegally should be prosecuted.

The USCIS response raises questions about whether the MVC will issue revised, personalized letters bearing a signature or seal that federal immigration officials will accept.

The Mount Laurel office services residents of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties.