New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill has admitted that roughly 6,600 noncitizens were incorrectly registered to vote in the state ahead of the 2024 election. Of those, fewer than 400 actually cast ballots.
The admission is a significant moment for a party that has long dismissed concerns about election integrity as fringe conspiracy theories.
Sherrill says the root cause was a software error inside New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission system. The flaw automatically added noncitizens to the voter rolls even when those individuals had specifically indicated they were not U.S. citizens. The error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024, during the tenure of Sherrill’s predecessor, Democrat Phil Murphy.
As originally reported, Sherrill issued a detailed statement saying she learned of the software failure last week and immediately ordered her chief counsel to launch a full investigation.
She also ordered the removal of every erroneously registered individual from the voter rolls and announced that the MVC Administrator she appointed has begun the process of replacing the vendor responsible for the faulty system.
Sherrill noted that the roughly 400 individuals who voted as a result of the error were registered across party lines, including as Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, and were spread throughout the state.
Drawing on her background as both a military veteran and a former federal prosecutor, Sherrill said she considers election integrity fundamental to American democracy. She described herself as “appalled” by what she called reckless failures and a lack of transparency on the part of those in charge at the time.
While distancing herself from responsibility for the original error, Sherrill made clear she is taking ownership of the response, saying accountability starts now.
The incident raises uncomfortable questions about how widespread similar software vulnerabilities might be in other states, and whether automatic voter registration systems tied to motor vehicle databases carry systemic risks that haven’t been fully examined.