Nearly 400 non-citizens cast ballots in New Jersey after a software failure improperly registered 6,600 people to vote, prompting Republican demands for legislative and federal investigations, the suspension of automatic voter registration and the prosecution of anyone who voted illegally.
The error occurred at the Motor Vehicle Commission between June 2023 and June 2024, when Phil Murphy was governor, but remained undisclosed until Gov. Mikie Sherrill learned of it last week and ordered an independent investigation.
The affected individuals had answered “no” when asked on an electronic keypad whether they were U.S. citizens while applying for driver’s licenses or state identification cards. Despite those answers, the MVC system transmitted their information for voter registration.
The registrations have been removed from the rolls, but it remains unclear which elections the nearly 400 individuals voted in or whether any of their ballots could have affected the outcome of a race.
The disclosure unleashed a barrage of criticism from Republicans, who said they had warned for years that New Jersey’s automatic voter registration system lacked sufficient safeguards.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco called for the program to be suspended until the investigation is completed and state officials publicly disclose what went wrong.
“At the very least, New Jersey should immediately suspend its automatic voter registration program until the investigation is complete and state officials publicly announce their findings, corrective actions, and next steps,” Bucco said. “It is also time for New Jersey to enact a voter identification requirement.”
Bucco said voter identification enjoys broad bipartisan support and would strengthen confidence in the state’s elections.
The automatic registration system was established by a 2018 law signed by Murphy. It registers eligible residents to vote, or updates their existing registration information, when they apply for or renew a driver’s license or identification card.
New Jersey Republican State Committee Chair Christine Giordano Hanlon said the software failure confirmed concerns raised by the party’s Election Integrity Task Force.
“Months ago, the NJGOP warned that initial findings of non-citizens on the voter rolls uncovered by the NJGOP Election Integrity Task Force were just the tip of the iceberg, and unfortunately, we were right all along,” Hanlon said.
“We knew better then, and we know better now,” she said. “We will not be bullied on an issue so critical to our democracy and will continue to shine a light on a legitimate concern that should not be partisan.”
Hanlon called for a bipartisan investigation and argued that the problem may not be limited to the one-year period identified by the Sherrill administration.
“Much more needs to be done,” she said. “We believe this issue is not isolated to this one-year time frame or a software glitch. The system and verification process must be improved to safeguard our elections.”
Hanlon also demanded to know why the error was not disclosed earlier and who was responsible for withholding the information from the public.
Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio said Republicans had repeatedly raised concerns about automatic registration at the MVC, citing previous incidents in which voters’ party affiliations were allegedly changed.
“New Jersey Republicans have been sounding the alarm for years that the automatic voter registration process at the MVC was highly problematic,” DiMaio said. “When we questioned MVC officials, they refused to disclose how they safeguard the process. Trenton Democrats have continued to undermine public trust in our elections, and it’s time for change.”
DiMaio said citizens should still be permitted to register at MVC offices but called for the automatic process to be halted.
“Until citizens are 100% assured that not one illegal resident will be mistakenly or intentionally registered to vote, the automatic process should be immediately halted,” he said. “U.S. citizens should still be permitted to register to vote at the MVC, but not through the flawed computer system.”
State Sen. Joe Pennacchio questioned whether the numbers released by the administration represent the full extent of the problem.
“We still don’t know the full scope of this failure,” Pennacchio said. “The State says nearly 6,600 non-citizens were improperly registered because of a software error and that fewer than 400 voted, but that figure is only a preliminary estimate. It could be far higher.”
Pennacchio said the software problem might represent only part of the issue and questioned whether other registrations resulted from human error or intentional fraud.
“I will be sending a formal letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting an immediate independent investigation,” he said. “New Jerseyans deserve complete transparency, accountability, and the confidence that our elections are secure.”
Assemblyman Gregory McGuckin said the Legislature should hold hearings to determine how the failure occurred, when officials learned of it and why it took years to become public.
“This is precisely the result we warned about,” McGuckin said. “Four hundred non-citizens voted, but I’m sure that won’t stop Democrats from claiming this never happens. It looks like they have been voting for three years, so it’s not just 400 illegal ballots. The problem is much larger than Democrats are willing to admit.”
“Automatic voter registration at the MVC permitted non-citizens to illegally participate in our elections, negating the votes of U.S. citizens,” he said. “Now we need to find out why it took three years to uncover these illegal voters in the system.”
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) said the known cases involved applicants who accurately disclosed that they were not citizens, raising questions about whether other non-citizens may have incorrectly or intentionally claimed citizenship.
“What’s equally troubling is that these are only the cases where non-citizens correctly indicated that they were not citizens and were still registered anyway,” O’Scanlon said. “That should alarm everyone.”
“If the system failed when applicants answered honestly, what safeguards exist to prevent non-citizens from mistakenly checking the wrong box or knowingly claiming citizenship and being registered to vote?” he asked.
O’Scanlon also renewed Republican calls for voter identification requirements and criticized a Murphy-era law allowing non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses.
“When Trenton Democrats made it law for non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses, Republicans warned that this very problem could occur,” he said. “There is no better time than now to enact voter identification requirements to provide one more layer of protection to ensure only eligible voters are casting ballots.”
State Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Totowa) pointed to legislation she introduced in May that would prevent the MVC from prompting someone to register if the identification presented during a transaction indicates that the person is not a U.S. citizen.
“I have been warning Trenton Democrats since this was signed into law in 2019 that New Jersey needed stronger safeguards to protect the integrity of our elections,” Corrado said.
“I sent SIX separate letters raising concerns and calling for action AND introduced legislation that would have provided a commonsense safeguard by preventing the MVC from prompting non-citizens to register to vote,” she said.
Corrado’s bill, co-sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Jim Beach (D-Voorhees), was unanimously approved by the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee on June 21 but has not advanced since then.
Assemblyman Al Barlas (R-Cedar Grove) questioned why none of the nearly 400 people who cast ballots had been prosecuted.
“NJSA 19:34-11 and 19:34-12 are clear: Fraudulently voting is a 3rd degree crime,” Barlas said in a social media post. “Can’t seem to find the statute that lets the governor selectively enforce laws.”
Democratic leaders defended Sherrill’s handling of a failure that began years before she took office, crediting her with disclosing the problem, ordering an independent investigation and promising accountability.
“A healthy democracy depends on the security of our voter registration systems and the stewardship of the individuals entrusted with ensuring our elections are free, fair, and accessible,” Senate President Nicholas Scutari said. “It also depends on public trust, and Governor Sherrill deserves credit for being transparent about these failures, taking swift action to launch an independent investigation of what went wrong, and pledging to hold anyone responsible to account.”
Scutari said the Senate would review the investigation’s findings before deciding whether additional action is necessary.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin similarly urged lawmakers to await the independent review.
“The integrity of our elections is a responsibility we all share, which is why I commend the Governor and the administration for being forthright with the people of New Jersey about this error, and for taking the immediate step to hire a respected independent law firm to investigate and provide recommendations on how to prevent an error like this from ever happening again,” Coughlin said.
Coughlin noted that lawmakers enacted a bipartisan election integrity package four years ago and said strengthening voting systems remains an ongoing responsibility.
New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chair LeRoy Jones praised Sherrill for acting after Attorney General Jennifer Davenport brought the issue to her attention.
“An issue was brought to Governor Sherrill’s attention by her Attorney General that occurred well before she arrived in Trenton, and she immediately went about working to correct it,” Jones said. “This is what true leadership looks like, and it’s exactly why voters supported her history-making campaign in a landslide.”
Jones accused Hanlon, President Donald Trump and other Republicans of weaponizing the disclosure to undermine public confidence in elections and suppress voter participation.
“The NJDSC takes the integrity, safety, and security of our elections seriously,” Jones said. “If MAGA Republicans truly cared about the rule of law, they would release the Epstein Files, stop dragging us into illegal wars, and acknowledge that the President should not be enriching himself at the expense of taxpayers.”