Software vendor says NJ approved 6,600 noncitizens who were registered to vote and Mikie Sherrill got it all wrong
WASHINGTON — The software company that New Jersey Gov.Mikie Sherrill blamed for 6,600 noncitizens getting put onto the voter rolls insists that local officials were responsible for illegally registering the immigrants.Sherrill (D) claimed Tuesday that a “serious software error” in the state’s Motor Vehicle System involving French tech company IDEMIA caused the mishap, which led to some 400 noncitizens voting.But IDEMIA said that the state had access to data showing that those individuals were not citizens — but apparently registered them to vote anyway.
The problem came from software that the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission used to register people to vote when they signed up for a New Jersey ID — a similar practice employed in dozens of states.ID recipients who said they wanted to register to vote, but declared that they were noncitizens, were added to voter rolls in 2023 and 2024 — despite it being illegal under federal law.“The 6,600 records submitted to the [Motor Vehicle Commission] and Division of Elections contained correct information according to the design specifications as set out by the state,” Lisa Shoemaker, a spokesperson for IDEMIA, told The Post on Wednesday.“All 6,600 individuals indicated ‘Yes’ to wanting to register to vote and ‘NO’ to being a US Citizen,” she added.
“This information was recorded correctly and always available.”“At no point was a noncitizen ever marked as a citizen in the database.”IDEMIA’s claims raise questions about why voter registration data submitted during applications for drivers’ licenses or identification wasn’t properly screened by New Jersey.It’s not clear whether New Jersey had any safeguards in place for people who made mistakes — or situations where people lied about being citizens.A New Jersey state official disputed IDEMIA’s claims.“No, that is not correct,” the official told The Post.“Anytime somebody answers ‘no’ to the citizenship question, that record...