New Jersey Republican Party Chairwoman Christine Hanlon stated on Sunday that the number of non-citizens illegally registered to vote in the state between 2023 and 2024 is likely higher than the 6,600 reported by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
Hanlon asserted that the figure released by Sherrill represents only a fraction of the actual number, telling 77 WABC's “Cats Roundtable” program, “They’re indicating it’s over 6,000, but I know it’s more than that.” She added, “So it’s more to come.”
Last week, Gov. Sherrill acknowledged that over 6,000 non-citizens were mistakenly placed on New Jersey's voter rolls. The governor's office further reported that approximately 400 of these individuals cast ballots illegally in state elections between June 2023 and June 2024. The erroneous registrations occurred under former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, facilitated by the NJ Commission on Motor Vehicles' automatic voter enrollment program when residents applied for identification.
“Wow. This is something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Hanlon commented on the situation. “They admitted non-citizens were on the voting rolls.”
The Justice Department has initiated an investigation into the matter. State officials and a software vendor have each blamed the other for the error. Sherrill's administration has engaged an independent firm, CSG Law, to investigate the incident. Sherrill's office attributed the mishap to a "serious software error" within the state’s Motor Vehicle System, involving the tech company IDEMIA. However, IDEMIA stated that the state had access to data indicating the individuals were not citizens but proceeded with their voter registration.
The practice of registering individuals to vote at Department of Motor Vehicles locations is employed in numerous other states. Hanlon emphasized the significance of such discrepancies, noting, “Elections come down to a small number of votes. This type of issue cannot be dismissed or pushed aside.” According to Ballotpedia, New Jersey has experienced more than a dozen elections decided by 10 votes or fewer in the past decade.
“Full investigations need to happen, and policy changes need to happen,” Hanlon urged. “The governor of New Jersey is trying to say, ‘It’s this one glitch, one tiny thing. A software glitch during a short time that allowed this to happen.’ I know that’s not the whole story.” She added, “We are pushing to expose the rest of the story and really push for policy changes. It is bad policies that lead to these election-integrity issues. It’s the main focus for me. It’s the main focus for the RNC [Republican National Committee], and for so many of our Republicans across our state and across the country. We need election integrity.”
These revelations coincide with Republican efforts in Congress to enact more stringent election integrity measures, reportedly at the urging of former President Donald Trump. Trump has claimed that nearly 250,000 non-citizens were registered to vote across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and Nevada, with as many as 35,152 wrongly enrolled in New Jersey. Earlier in the year, Republicans in the House of Representatives attached a voter-identification requirement to a bill banning members of Congress from trading stocks. The bill passed with unanimous Republican support but was opposed by most Democrats, who argued that such requirements could suppress voting rights. Trump has also advocated for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship for voting, though it has faced obstacles in the Senate.