WASHINGTON — The software program firm that New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill blamed for 6,600 noncitizens getting put onto the voter rolls insists that native officers had been answerable for illegally registering the immigrants.
Sherrill (D) claimed Tuesday {that a} “severe software program error” within the state’s Motor Car System involving French tech firm IDEMIA prompted the mishap, which led to some 400 noncitizens voting.
However IDEMIA mentioned that the state had entry to knowledge displaying that these people weren’t residents — however apparently registered them to vote anyway.
The issue got here from software program that the NJ Motor Car Fee used to register individuals to vote once they signed up for a New Jersey ID — an analogous apply employed in dozens of states.
ID recipients who mentioned they needed to register to vote, however declared that they had been noncitizens, had been added to voter rolls in 2023 and 2024 — regardless of it being unlawful beneath federal legislation.
“The 6,600 information submitted to the [Motor Vehicle Commission] and Division of Elections contained appropriate info in line with the design specs as set out by the state,” Lisa Shoemaker, a spokesperson for IDEMIA, informed The Put up on Wednesday.
“All 6,600 people indicated ‘Sure’ to eager to register to vote and ‘NO’ to being a US Citizen,” she added.
“This info was recorded appropriately and at all times accessible.”
“At no level was a noncitizen ever marked as a citizen within the database.”
IDEMIA’s claims elevate questions on why voter registration knowledge submitted throughout functions for drivers’ licenses or identification wasn’t correctly screened by New Jersey.
It’s not clear whether or not New Jersey had any safeguards in place for individuals who made errors — or conditions the place individuals lied about being residents.
A New Jersey state official disputed IDEMIA’s claims.
“No, that’s not appropriate,” the official informed The Put up. “Anytime any person solutions ‘no’ to the citizenship query, that report shouldn’t be transmitted to the Division of Elections.”
The debacle happened beneath Sherrill’s predecessor, former Gov. Phil Murphy (D). She introduced Tuesday that the state has employed an outdoor group, CSG, to research the matter.
“IDEMIA doesn’t management or handle voter enrollment, our position is solely to gather self-reported citizenship and curiosity knowledge,” Shoemaker defined.
“This results in extra questions – if the Division of Elections had lacking info which is required to register within the State of New Jersey, did the Division of Elections approve these people be added to the Voter Rolls.”
Shoemaker mentioned that IDEMIA believes the info despatched over to the Division of Elections additionally missed key info akin to social gathering affiliation.
President Trump and his allies have pointed to the New Jersey scandal as a living proof for why extra sturdy guardrails are wanted to guard election integrity.
For months, Trump has been championing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which might require proof of citizenship to vote, amongst different measures.
Shortly after Sherrill’s beautiful announcement in regards to the 6,600 non-citizens in New Jersey getting registered to vote, the Justice Division demanded the governor fork over key knowledge, together with the names of the individuals who had been erroneously added to the voter rolls.
The DOJ additionally cited the debacle in a submitting for its ongoing lawsuit in opposition to the Backyard State looking for entry to its voter roll knowledge.
“The Trump administration has a protracted historical past of weaponizing the Justice Division for political functions and trying to overturn election outcomes,” Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for Sherrill, informed The Put up.
“Governor Sherrill has been clear that she is going to use all of the authorized instruments accessible to her to guard New Jerseyans’ private info.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) on Wednesday demanded that the Basic Companies Administration and the Workplace of Administration and Funds probe federal contracts with IDEMIA in response.
The seller manages techniques for TSA PreCheck and driver’s license applications in most states.
