About 75,000 noncitizens are summoned for jury duty in New Jersey each year, based on data from three state government agencies, including the Motor Vehicle Commission — a stunning figure that widens the scope of a growing controversy over government databases that may incorrectly identify noncitizens as eligible voters and jurors.
While the number is alarming, there’s no indication that noncitizens have served on a jury since the judiciary implemented additional guardrails to prevent it.
“Prospective jurors are asked about their citizenship and other qualifications when they complete the mandatory juror qualification questionnaire,” said Pete McAleer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts. “Those who advance are reminded of the eligibility requirements during jury orientation and are directly questioned about their citizenship during jury selection by the judge and, as permitted, the attorneys.”
In between, potential jurors watch a training video that includes the citizenship requirement.
The revelation of noncitizens making their way into jury pools comes three days after Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed that an alleged software glitch at motor vehicles led to the inclusion of roughly 6,600 noncitizens on New Jersey’s voter rolls; Sherrill blamed the vendor, IDEMIA, and said less than 400 noncitizens have voted in recent elections.
According to McAleer, the judiciary processes more than one million summonses annually for potential jury service and randomly selects records provided from the Division of Elections, the Division of Taxation, and the MVC.
Sherrill’s disclosure that the Motor Vehicles Commission is creating records of New Jersey residents and transmitting them to the judiciary and Statewide Voter Registration System that misidentify some residents as citizens will only enhance the current controversy.
“The fact that the state’s jury duty selection is being impacted widens the scope of the problem and heightens the need to act quickly and thoroughly to resolve it,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
McAleer said that about 20% of people who “respond to the qualification questionnaire report that they do not meet one or more of New Jersey’s statutory eligibility requirements.”
“Roughly one quarter of the reported disqualifications — approximately 75,000 individuals per year — are based on lack of United States citizenship,” he said.
The 75,000 is an average over a three-year period, McAleer said. The safeguards have been in effect since the 1990s.