New Jersey’s noncitizen voter scandal is moving under a national microscope after several House Republicans sent a letter to the software company blamed for the voter roll error, seeking more information from their side of the story.
When Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) announced that her administration removed about 6,600 noncitizen residents from its voter rolls, she said the noncitizens appeared there initially because of a “serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System” under former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. The company that manages the state Motor Vehicle Commission’s identity verification services, French company IDEMIA, has disputed this claim, putting the onus on the state.
Republican leaders from the House Judiciary and Administration Committees reached out to IDEMIA this week, requesting information from the company on how the noncitizens were registered with the MVC and placed on the voter rolls.
“The Committees are concerned about the application of federal law in New Jersey as it pertains to accurate voter registration, as well as the effect that New Jersey’s failure to identify and remove noncitizens from its voter rolls has on the civil liberties of American voters and their ability to elect their representatives,” the House Republicans wrote in the letter to Matt Cole, the CEO of IDEMIA.
Reps. Brian Steil (R-WI), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) penned the letter, asking IDEMIA to hand over information and communications related to any relevant alleged software errors; any discovery of, warnings about, or resolution to the issue of noncitizens on state voter rolls; the company’s process for collecting and transmitting voter registration details; and how the company complies with federal voting laws.
“As the vendor that provided the software that allegedly made an error, IDEMIA has relevant information regarding the nature of the supposed error, the information collected by your software that New Jersey had in its possession, and how IDEMIA communicated with New Jersey state authorities about fixing the error,” the House Republicans wrote.
The inquiry comes as IDEMIA and Sherrill’s administration have publicly traded barbs on the matter, with Sherrill placing blame on the vendor and her predecessor’s administration while IDEMIA disputes any wrongdoing. The House Republicans requested similar information from the Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell (D-NJ) in early August.
“I think it’s well known that the Motor Vehicle Commission has been a mess, and IDEMIA is at the heart of that: long wait times, bureaucracy, red tape,” Sherrill said in July.
IDEMIA, which manages the software and technology systems for the state’s MVC, said in July that with the MVC, they “support the process through which eligible individuals may indicate their interest in registering to vote when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or state-issued identification card.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, the vendor distanced itself from the process of directly giving residents’ data to the state’s elections agency, saying “IDEMIA software is not now and has never been set up to send any data whatsoever to the NJ Division of Elections.” The company said the software pools residents’ answers to MVC questions, and the MVC pulls answers from that database.
“The criteria that the MVC uses to pull the reporting (including any questions regarding citizenship) and transmit to the Division of Elections is ultimately up to them,” IDEMIA said in the statement.
“MVC in June of 2024 requested IDEMIA change a setting in the system that was a part of the original requirements from the state,” IDEMIA continued. “The requested change was to treat applicants who elect to continue with voter registration but subsequently answer ‘No’ to the citizenship question as a voter registration decline in the system. IDEMIA made that change and it was effective September 2024.”
Sherrill’s administration launched an independent investigation into the voter roll matter in July. She gave an update at the end of the month that she has moved “aggressively on multiple fronts” to address the issue.
“MVC has mailed letters to the individuals who were impacted by this software error,” Sherrill said in a statement, pointing voters to the state website on the matter. “To supplement those notifications, we’ve launched a website with answers to frequently asked questions, information about the voter registration review process, and support resources.”
MIKIE SHERRILL SUPPORTS VOTER ID LAWS AFTER GLITCH REGISTERS OVER 6,000 IMMIGRANTS
“At the same time, the Division of Elections has begun a process to remove more than 4,500 individuals who were registered solely through this software error,” Sherrill said. “The remaining registrations will be referred to county election officials for additional review to ensure that any lawfully registered voters are not being disenfranchised.”
In the wake of the issue, Sherrill has also come out in support of voter ID laws, though she has criticized President Donald Trump’s championed SAVE America Act, calling it a “tool of voter suppression.”