6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in N.J. because of a ‘software error,’ governor says

2026 Election6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in N.J. because of a ‘software error,’ governor saysDemocratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill said a review found that nearly 400 noncitizens cast ballots in elections between 2023 and 2024. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill in East Brunswick, N.J., in 2025.Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 21, 2026, 3:09 PM EDTBy Dareh GregorianRoughly 6,600 noncitizens were unwittingly registered to vote in New Jersey between 2023 and 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday. Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Of that number, roughly 400 improperly cast votes, she said. “They were registered as Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters and were scattered across the state,” said Sherrill, a Democrat. She added that it is unclear at this point which elections they voted in and that there was “no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed” as a result. Sherill said the names are currently being removed from the voter rolls, and that the noncitizens had been registered through no fault of their own because of “a serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System” between June of 2023 and June of 2024. “These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherrill said. While the number of noncitizens who cast ballots in New Jersey accounts for a small percentage of the state’s overall electorate, the finding could add fuel to President Donald Trump’s claims that they are voting in large numbers in U.S. elections. He used a primetime speech from the White House last week to push Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would impose new photo ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements to vote. “As the Trum...