New Jersey won’t give DOJ data on noncitizens erroneously registered to vote

By Natalie Hausmann

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a veteran of the U.S. Navy, talks to reporters following a caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on August 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. A member of the National Security Caucus, Sherrill said it is impossible to evacuate all American citizens and Afghan allies before President Joe Biden's August 31 deadline to get all U.S. military out of Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) announced Thursday that she has no plans to supply the Department of Justice (DOJ) with data on thousands of noncitizens who were erroneously registered to vote due to a software malfunction.

“We are not in the practice of turning over this kind of personally identifying data over to the federal government because we have seen them weaponize it, I’ve seen it personally,” Sherrill said. “They are working to weaponize personal data, and they don’t have a reputation for keeping it private either.”

Earlier this week, New Jersey announced that 6,600 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote by Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) software, despite indicating that they were not citizens. Approximately 400 of them cast ballots during the 2023-2024 period.

Following the revelation, the DOJ sent a letter to Sherrill requesting information on both the noncitizens who were mistakenly registered and those who cast ballots. The letter also said the DOJ would use the MVC snafu in its pending lawsuit seeking access to New Jersey’s unredacted voter registration rolls. That same day, the department filed a notice arguing that the incident provided an additional basis for the court to compel the state to hand over sensitive voter data.

In declining to provide the DOJ with information on the noncitizens, Sherrill said that New Jersey is running its own independent investigation.

Answering questions from the press Thursday, the governor blamed the registration error on the MVC and IDEMIA, a company that produced its software. 

Sherrill said that the MVC is in “disarray” and has been since long before the mistaken registrations. That’s why the state has taken action, including moving to end the partnership between MVC and IDEMIA, she added.

The White House jumped on the voter registration glitch to advance claims of mass voter fraud and call on the Senate to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-voting bill, the SAVE America Act.

“It is not a surprise to me that the federal government, that the Trump administration, wants to immediately weaponize this against people as opposed to focusing on making sure that we’re running free and fair elections,” Sherrill said.

Since Trump returned to office last year, his DOJ has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia after they declined to provide access to their unredacted voter rolls. 

But the volley of lawsuits hasn’t gone well for the DOJ. So far, the agency has lost every single case, with Republican-appointed judges ruling against it in 11 of the cases.

Following its most recent loss in Kentucky, the DOJ’s record is now 0-17.