NJ Republicans target two laws as they seek probe into non-citizen voting reveal

A day after Gov. Mikie Sherrill revealed that the state Motor Vehicle Commission registered thousands of non-citizens to vote, New Jersey Republicans are zeroing in on the state’s automatic voter registration law and a statute allowing non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses as culprits for what Sherrill has called a bureaucratic snafu.

The GOP officials say both laws should either be repealed or rewritten to prevent any more instances of non-citizens being added to the state’s voter rolls.

“I wasn’t shocked to learn that this was, in fact, happening. And I hope I’m wrong in this scenario — but I believe that this is more than likely the tip of the iceberg,” said Sen. Mike Testa (R-Cumberland).

Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Passaic) said she’s been warning about automatic voter registration at motor vehicle offices since the law went into effect in 2018. Corrado said people have reached out to her about mistaken party affiliation switches, among other issues.

“This kind of confirms that, at best, those concerns were justified,” she said.

Sherrill’s Tuesday announcement stunned political observers in New Jersey and nationwide, and instantly made New Jersey the face of voter fraud among Republicans like President Donald Trump who claim there are tens of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Sherrill, a Democrat, blamed a software glitch for the error, which she said registered about 6,600 non-citizens to vote and led to about 400 of them casting ballots. She said when they were asked during a Motor Vehicle Commission transaction whether they were citizens and they answered no, the software identified them as citizens anyway.

The governor has said the error began in June 2023 and lasted for a year. She has noted that it predated her tenure as governor. Sherrill succeeded Phil Murphy (D) as governor in January.

Twenty-three Assembly Republicans sent a letter to Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) on Wednesday asking him to form a special legislative committee with subpoena power to investigate the matter. They asked that, at a minimum, they’re able to seek testimony from Tahesha Way, who was secretary of state under Murphy; current Secretary of State Dale Caldwell; Latrecia Littles-Floyd, the former acting chief administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission; and senior representatives of Idemia, the vendor whose software Sherrill blamed for the error.

The Trump administration, which is suing New Jersey over access to unredacted voter roll information, sent a letter to Sherrill Tuesday demanding, within five days, detailed voter records for the thousands of non-citizens who were registered to vote. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last week alleged that more than 35,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in New Jersey.

Sherrill said Tuesday that her office has already launched an investigation and has started to replace Idemia, which has denied responsibility.

Liza Weisberg, supervising attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said she’s grateful that Sherrill is taking “meaningful steps” to correct any errors.

“The latest reporting supports what we have long said: when mistakes in voter rolls do appear, they are overwhelmingly due to software or administrative errors that can be addressed without threatening the freedom to vote for all,” Weisberg said.

Murphy signed into law both measures now under attack by Republicans. In 2018, during his first year in office, he signed a bill making voter registration automatic for patrons who interact with the state Motor Vehicle Commission. And in December 2019, he signed a bill that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. A spokesman for Murphy did not return requests for comment.

Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn (R-Monmouth) said Sherrill’s Tuesday announcement confirmed worries she has had since taking office in 2022. Back then, Flynn said, she was approached by a constituent who is not a U.S. citizen but had been registered to vote while at a motor vehicle office. She said that’s why one of the first bills she introduced as a lawmaker would have required state officials to conduct annual audits of voter registration rolls. The bill has never advanced to a committee hearing in the Legislature.

“I don’t think this is controversial. I think it’s good government,” Flynn said. “There hasn’t been any interest by Democrats and the Legislature to do something about this, like adopting one of these bills.”

Automatic voter registration should be paused in light of Sherrill’s announcement, said Corrado. She is a co-sponsor on bipartisan legislation that would bar the Motor Vehicle Commission from prompting non-citizens to register to vote. A Senate committee voted unanimously to advance the bill in May, but has yet to receive a hearing in the lower chamber.

Corrado also said that while she’s opposed to driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, she recognizes that the Legislature’s Democratic leadership is unlikely to allow it to be repealed, so she instead as a minimum wants to see licenses for non-citizens that are clearly marked.

“It’s really to be used for driving and identification purposes, not for voting or registering for benefits a person is not entitled to,” she said. “It’s certainly something that should be looked at.”

New Jersey is home to an estimated 520,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the American Immigration Council.

Overturning the law allowing all New Jersey drivers to obtain licenses regardless of status would not have avoided the software glitch issue, said Tanya Broder, senior counsel at the National Immigration Law Center. She noted that all 50 states issue driver’s licenses to non-citizens, like green card holders and other lawfully present residents.

Broder said getting rid of the law would have negative public safety impacts, because people regardless of status need to drive in order to get to work, take their kids to school, or get to the doctor, so it’s better to have a law in place that ensures all drivers are licensed and insured.

“It was a software issue that people who applied for a driver’s license truthfully indicated that they were not citizens. It was not at all their fault, and they shouldn’t be penalized for something that was not their mistake,” she said.

While Testa repeatedly credited Sherrill for “admitting there is a problem,” he said that the roughly 400 people who cast ballots while being ineligible to vote “should be charged.” Sherrill said Tuesday the state would not pursue charges against them.

Testa noted a string of close races in recent years as evidence that even a few votes matter. A Cumberland County commissioner lost his race by just over 100 votes last year and former Assemblyman Brandon Umba lost re-election by 252 votes in 2023. Corrado pointed to a committee race in Holmdel where the election was decided by a single vote.

“These numbers matter. It concerns me, because we don’t know where these votes came from or where they are,” Testa said. “That’s why we need a full audit of our voter rolls to make sure that every single non-citizen that was registered to vote is taken off.”

Republicans said they worry the issue could inflict lasting damage on New Jerseyans’ faith in their elections, especially if lawmakers don’t act. Testa said that with voting already a nationally politicized issue, transparency is urgent.

Flynn pushed back on the idea that raising questions about these voter rolls makes someone an election denier, saying that new laws are constantly put in place as safeguards. She said she hopes Democrats “stop demonizing people who raise questions over whether or not these voter rolls are accurate.”

“If this continues down the path that it seems,” she said, “it’s just going to be a fight of who hates Trump more, rather than making sure that our election rolls are accurate.”