NJ governor cites software glitch that added thousands of non-citizens to voter rolls

Governor Mikie Sherrill revealed that a software malfunction in New Jersey’s motor-vehicle system mistakenly added about 6,600 non-citizens to the state’s voter registration database, with fewer than 400 of those individuals actually voting. Her remarks arrived days after President Donald Trump warned that cyber interference threatens the heart of American democracy. Conservative analyst Jason Snead described the incident as part of a 25-year trend of state-level registration errors, but the absence of one outlet's reporting standard hampers precise measurement.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin released preliminary DHS figures indicating as many as 250,000 non-citizens are registered in four states, including 35,152 in New Jersey. Legal scholar Charles Stewart III explained that the National Voter Registration Act is silent on state obligations to audit for non-citizen registrations, resulting in uneven enforcement. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed lawsuits against numerous states to compel compliance, while critics argue that policies such as automatic voter registration exacerbate the issue. Similar registration problems have been documented in states ranging from Louisiana to Colorado, underscoring a persistent vulnerability in the electoral system.