New Jersey removes 6,600 noncitizens from voter rolls after software error.

A software failure inside New Jersey’s motor vehicle system mistakenly registered approximately 6,600 self-identified noncitizens to vote, prompting state officials to remove the affected registrations and launch an independent investigation.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed the problem on Tuesday, July 21, saying the registration error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024. During that period, people applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards were asked whether they were United States citizens.

The affected applicants answered “no,” but a flaw in the system still transferred their information into New Jersey’s voter registration database.

Fewer than 400 people registered through the faulty process later cast ballots, state officials said. The administration has not presented evidence that the votes changed the result of any election, and an investigation is now expected to examine when the problem became known, why it was not corrected sooner and whether additional safeguards are needed.

Software error affected motor vehicle applicants.

The problem was connected to New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission, which gives eligible residents an opportunity to register to vote while completing a driver’s license or state identification transaction.

That process is part of the federal National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as the “Motor Voter” law. It requires motor vehicle agencies to provide voter registration services while also protecting the accuracy and integrity of voter rolls.

In this case, the system reportedly failed to stop the registration process after applicants indicated that they were not citizens. Instead, their information continued into the voter registration system.

The registrations occurred over a one-year period ending in June 2024, more than a year before Sherrill became governor in January 2026. Sherrill said her administration learned about the issue in July and moved to investigate it.

“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen,” Sherrill said while announcing corrective action. She added that although the failure did not occur during her administration, responsibility for addressing it now belongs to her office.

The governor also said the state should respond openly rather than hide or minimize the problem.

“When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies,” she said. “We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public.”

Nearly 400 registered individuals reportedly voted.

The discovery immediately raised questions about the ballots cast by people whose registrations originated through the software error.

State officials said fewer than 400 of the approximately 6,600 affected individuals voted after being incorrectly registered. Reports indicated that the ballots were spread across different political affiliations rather than concentrated within one party.

Officials have not released a complete public breakdown showing which elections the individuals participated in, where they lived, or which contests appeared on their ballots.

Sherrill said the state currently has no evidence that an election outcome was altered. That conclusion could be revisited as investigators review the affected voter records and determine precisely when ballots were cast.

The distinction between being registered and casting a ballot is important. Most of the people added through the error did not vote, based on the figures released by the state.

New Jersey law requires a person registering to vote to be a United States citizen. Eligible voters must also satisfy the state’s age and residency requirements.

The state’s official registration forms ask applicants directly whether they are citizens. The software error appears significant because the affected applicants reportedly answered that question correctly but were registered anyway.

Investigation will examine vendor and state failures.

New Jersey has hired an independent firm to investigate the incident. The inquiry is expected to determine how the software malfunctioned, whether officials received earlier warnings, and why the problem remained unresolved after the affected registration period ended.

The technology involved was provided by identity and security company Idemia, which supplied software used in the motor vehicle registration process. State officials are also expected to review the vendor’s role and consider replacing the system or provider.

The 6,600 affected registrations are being removed from the voter rolls. However, federal and state election laws generally require officials to follow formal procedures before canceling registrations, helping ensure that eligible citizens are not mistakenly removed.

Election officials must balance two responsibilities: preventing ineligible registrations and protecting qualified voters from improper cancellation.

That challenge has become more complicated as governments compare voter records with immigration, driver’s license and citizenship databases. Data errors, outdated records and people who later become naturalized citizens can produce inaccurate matches if reviews are not conducted carefully.

Federal officials raised a larger estimate.

The confirmed New Jersey software error emerged amid a broader dispute between the Trump administration and several states over possible noncitizen voter registrations.

The Department of Homeland Security recently sent letters to New Jersey, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania claiming that federal data had identified large numbers of potentially ineligible registrants. The preliminary federal estimate included as many as 35,152 people in New Jersey.

That figure is separate from the approximately 6,600 registrations New Jersey connected to its software failure.

Sherrill said the state requested supporting evidence for the larger federal estimate but had not received the underlying information at the time of her announcement. Because the federal claim has not been fully documented publicly, it should not be treated as a confirmed count of noncitizens registered in New Jersey.

The confirmed state findings nevertheless give election officials a concrete failure to examine. They show that a registration system can produce ineligible records even when applicants accurately disclose that they are not citizens.

What happens next in New Jersey

The independent investigation will likely focus on the software’s design, the timeline of the error and communications among the Motor Vehicle Commission, election officials and the technology vendor.

Officials will also need to determine whether the safeguards added after June 2024 are sufficient to prevent the same problem from happening again.

The state has not yet released the names of the affected individuals or a detailed list of the elections in which fewer than 400 of them participated. More information may emerge as investigators complete their review.

For New Jersey voters, registration status can be checked through the state’s official voter information portal. The Division of Elections advises residents to confirm their information, especially after moving, changing names or completing motor vehicle transactions.

The episode is likely to remain part of the national election-security debate. For now, the clearest established facts are that approximately 6,600 self-identified noncitizens were mistakenly registered because of a software error, fewer than 400 reportedly voted, the registrations are being removed, and investigators have not produced evidence that an election result changed.