New Jersey Gov. Sherrill says a glitch in the Motor Vehicle Commission’s computer system improperly registered 6,600 noncitizens to vote 3 years ago

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A software glitch in the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission computer system improperly registered about 6,600 noncitizens to vote in 2023, but fewer than 400 cast ballots in elections between 2023 and 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday.

During the news conference at the State House, Sherrill said she only learned a few days ago about the error that happened in June 2023, when Phil Murphy was governor.

“When New Jerseyans applied for a driver’s license or identification at the MVC, they were asked if they wanted to register to vote,” Sherrill said. “Some individuals indicated that they weren’t citizens and weren’t eligible to vote, but the software registered them anyway.”

Sherrill said it is unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error.

“It’s unacceptable that the MVC took a year to get this issue fixed, and it’s unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability, or took action when it happened years ago,” Sherrill said.

She said the software glitch registered noncitizens as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters, and that the error was not fixed until June 2024.

Sherrill said that after finding out about the error last Wednesday, she immediately ordered an investigation to be launched.

“Currently, the Division of Elections is working to ensure that anyone who is illegally registered is removed from the voter rolls,” she said.

She said that for too long, the Trenton playbook has been to avoid tackling and solving tough problems.

“I am working to create a different culture, one where we are both effective and transparent. This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now,” the governor said.

“We’re sending letters to the people impacted by this error, and we will remove anyone from the voter rolls who may have improperly registered under the previous administration,” she added.

The governor also said she is working to create “guardrails” so that this kind of error doesn’t happen again, although she did not speculate on what they might be.

Last week, President Donald Trump again raised doubts about the security of elections and called for tougher voting laws to be adopted before the November midterm elections.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Sherrill said Trump has “zero credibility” when it comes to election integrity.

“For more than 10 years, he has worked to undermine Americans’ faith in our elections by spreading lies about legitimate election results, attempting to overturn a free and fair election, encouraging an attack on our Capitol when he couldn’t accept the will of the voters, and defunding election security at the federal level,” she said. “The difference is simple: When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public.”

Sherrill identified the vendor that had committed the error as Idemia, and said steps have begun to replace them with Thales, a French technology company.

She vowed to keep the public updated as the investigation into the incident moves forward.

Late Tuesday afternoon, state Senate Republican leader Tony Bucco, R-Morris, released a statement regarding the governor’s announcement. It said:

“The news that approximately 6,600 non-citizens were identified on New Jersey’s voter rolls following a Motor Vehicle Commission software error raises serious concerns that demand a transparent and independent investigation. The fact that New Jersey has been allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s license since 2020 requires the investigation be extended at least from the onset of this law, if not longer.

“This situation underscores the consequences of policy decisions that Republicans warned about from the beginning. Over six years ago, Trenton Democrats chose to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses despite our opposition, and they placed voter registration in the hands of the MVC—an agency with a long history of administrative failures.

“While New Jersey’s elections include safeguards, errors like this undermine public confidence and provide those who seek to cast doubt on our election system with more ammunition. That is why it is essential that we determine exactly how this happened, and what steps are being taken to ensure it cannot happen again.”