New Jersey says software error put about 6,600 non-citizens on voter rolls

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday that the state mistakenly registered about 6,600 non-US citizens to vote before the 2024 election because of what she called a serious software error.

Sherrill said fewer than 400 of the people registered through the error had voted and that the registrations were spread across party lines. She said the error affected people who had said they were not US citizens when applying for drivers' licenses and identification cards between June 2023 and June 2024.

The incident took place during the term of Sherrill's Democratic predecessor, Phil Murphy. Sherrill said she had ordered the affected names removed from the voter roll and had sought an investigation.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump renewed unsupported claims of mass voter fraud before the November midterm elections. Trump claimed in a televised address last week that more than 250,000 non-US citizens were registered to vote in four states, including New Jersey. He urged lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act.

The bill would require proof of US citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at polling places. It would also impose new limits on mail-in ballots.

The White House said the New Jersey error showed why the United States should adopt the bill, saying illegal ballots undermine election integrity and blaming Democratic policies that it said do not verify citizenship.

Sherrill rejected that argument and warned against the Trump administration trying to use elections for political gain. She said Trump had no credibility on election integrity and said New Jersey was investigating and fixing the problem rather than denying or hiding it.

Trump has continued to claim that the 2020 election was rigged. The source says that claim has not been substantiated, and that more than 60 lawsuits did not produce a ruling establishing fraud capable of changing the result. Recounts, audits and Trump's own Justice Department also found no such fraud, according to the source.