New Jersey Governor Sherrill says 6,600 non-citizens were registered to vote due to an error in New Jersey’s vehicle system

About 6,600 people who indicated they were noncitizens while obtaining New Jersey driver’s licenses and other government identification cards were incorrectly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024, Gov. Micky Sherrill said Tuesday.

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The Democratic governor, who took office this year, blamed a software error in the Motor Vehicle Commission’s system, but said preliminary analysis showed fewer than 400 of the people registered that way cast ballots.

The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to assert that voting by non-citizens is widespread in US elections, though rare, and could, when discovered, be punished as a felony that could lead to deportation.

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Sherrill said she has ordered the removal of incorrectly added voter registrations from 2023-2024 and is replacing the vendor who was managing the system. It also launches an investigation into how the error occurred.

“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen, and the lack of transparency demonstrated by those responsible at the time,” she said in a statement.

Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, was governor at the time. The Associated Press was making efforts to contact him or his representatives.

New Jersey is among several states that allow noncitizens to hold driver’s licenses and other state-issued identification cards.