Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) on Thursday pushed back on the Trump administration’s demand that her administration turn over the identities of thousands of noncitizens who were mistakenly registered to vote, accusing federal officials of attempting to use the error for political purposes rather than election integrity.
The Democratic governor said her state would not reveal the personal information of approximately 6,600 people who were inadvertently added to New Jersey’s voter rolls due to a software malfunction at the Motor Vehicle Commission between June 2023 and June 2024.
“We are not in the practice of turning this kind of personally identifying data over to the federal government because we have seen them weaponize it,” Sherrill told reporters at a press conference. “I’ve seen it personally. They are working to weaponize personal data, and they don’t have a reputation for keeping it private either. We’ve seen data breaches again and again and again.”
Sherrill disclosed earlier this week that the registration error affected thousands of noncitizens who had identified themselves as such while interacting with the MVC. About 400 of those individuals later voted before election officials discovered and corrected the problem, according to the governor’s office.
The dispute between the state and the Trump administration deepened after Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, sent New Jersey a letter Tuesday ordering the state to provide the names, addresses, and nationalities of those affected within five business days.
DOJ officials have argued the information is necessary because federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
“It is illegal for any noncitizen to vote in a federal election, and every unlawful vote dilutes the voice of American citizens,” department spokeswoman Kiersten Pels said in a statement.
Dhillon also warned that any noncitizen who cast a ballot could face criminal prosecution and immigration consequences.
“They are subject to both prosecution as well as removal from the United States,” Dhillon said during an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast.
The controversy has also amplified scrutiny of how New Jersey handled the registration mistake after it was uncovered. Although Sherrill stopped short of accusing her predecessor, former Gov. Phil Murphy, of intentionally concealing the issue, she sharply criticized what she described as years of silence and a lack of accountability.
“The people of New Jersey shouldn’t have to wait a year for a problem to get solved or two years to learn it even happened,” she said.
Sherrill faulted the software vendor responsible for the defective system, the MVC for taking roughly a year to resolve the problem, and the previous administration for failing to disclose the error once it had been identified publicly.
“It is unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability, or took action when it happened years ago,” she said.
Murphy, who left office in January after serving two terms, has not publicly commented on the controversy.
SHERRILL TO REMOVE 6,000 NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLLS AFTER DMV ERROR
The revelation has prompted new questions about when state leaders first became aware of the registration error and why the public was not informed sooner. Sherrill said she learned of the problem only last week but declined to say whether Murphy had been briefed while he was still in office.
Republicans said those unanswered questions deserve further investigation.