Democratic governor, Mikie Sherrill, who took office this year, blamed a Motor Vehicle Commission system software error but claimed a preliminary analysis showed that fewer than 400 of those who registered that way went on to cast ballots.
The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to assert that voting by noncitizens is rampant in U.S. elections.
Sherrill promised immediate action and said she has ordered that all erroneously added voter registrations from that period be removed. She also is replacing the vendor who ran the system and is launching an investigation into how the error happened.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” she said in a statement.
She also attempted to head off any future criticism of the issue from the president.
In a speech last week, Trump talked about an investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, which said it had identified about 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections across the country. It said most of them were in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday suggested it was that report that prompted Sherrill to take action.
“Appreciate you responding back to our letter, @GovSherrillNJ. This should’ve been done a LONG time ago,” he said in a message on X. “Just ONE illegal vote cancels out the vote of a U.S. citizen.”
New Jersey is among 19 states that allow people who are in the U.S. illegally to hold driver's licenses and other state-issued ID cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
