Support independent journalism. Subscribe for $50 for your first year. Limited time.

New Jersey

Software Glitch Put Thousands of Noncitizens on New Jersey Voter Rolls

Gov. Mikie Sherrill said fewer than 400 noncitizens voted in elections during the time they were erroneously registered.

A woman marks her ballot inside of a voting center in Long Island.

A woman marks her ballot inside of a voting center during early voting in the states’ presidential primary election, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Freeport, N.Y. In Long Island’s Nassau County, a handful of Latino residents and a local civil rights organization allege that a redistricting map drawn by the county Legislature dilutes the voting power of Black, Latino and Asian residents. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP

By Angie Orellana Hernandez

July 21, 2026 03:37 p.m.

A software error caused more than 6,000 noncitizens to be added to New Jersey’s voter rolls, the state’s Democratic governor said Tuesday, while fewer than 400 of them were found to have illegally cast ballots.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill blamed a software vendor called IDEMIA for the issue, saying the software erroneously registered the noncitizens to vote while they were applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards through New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System. State officials said they would begin working with a new vendor.

“These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen … but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherill said in a statement.