TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s noncitizen voter registration scandal just got another potentially embarrassing wrinkle. And once again, Trenton has some explaining to do.
Three Republican lawmakers are demanding an immediate investigation after a 19-year-old legal immigrant reportedly discovered that New Jersey had registered her to vote despite her never claiming American citizenship or asking to be registered.
Here’s the kicker: Her voter registration became effective in September 2025, more than a year after the state’s previously disclosed MVC registration glitch supposedly ended.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assembly members Victoria Flynn and Gerry Scharfenberger (all R-13) fired off a letter Monday to Acting Secretary of State Shirley Emehelu demanding answers about Ilaria Giugliano, whose story was first reported by Alex Zdan of The New York Sun.
According to the lawmakers, Giugliano visited the Freehold MVC office in September 2024 on her 17th birthday to obtain a driver’s license. She says she specifically avoided identifying herself as an American citizen or requesting voter registration.
Apparently, that wasn’t enough.
Public records reportedly list Giugliano as an active voter, with a registration effective date corresponding to her 18th birthday in September 2025. She’s even received sample ballots, including one for next week’s general election.
Giugliano says she’s never voted and is working toward American citizenship. There’s no indication she intentionally did anything wrong.
Which raises an obvious question: How does someone who isn’t eligible to vote, and didn’t ask to register, wind up on the voter rolls anyway?
Remember, the Sherrill administration previously acknowledged that approximately 6,600 noncitizens were improperly registered through the MVC system between June 2023 and June 2024. Hundreds reportedly went on to cast ballots.
Trenton blamed a registration problem and announced corrective measures.
Problem solved, right?
Not so fast.
Giugliano’s reported September 2025 effective date falls well outside the previously identified window. The lawmakers want to determine whether her registration was initiated in 2024 and activated later, or whether another error occurred after the supposed problem had been addressed.
Either possibility deserves scrutiny.
“Despite the administration’s previously announced corrective actions and additional safeguards, Ms. Giugliano’s reported experience raises serious questions about whether all improperly registered individuals have been identified,” the lawmakers wrote.
Their letter demands answers about who or what registered Giugliano, whether she’s still on the rolls, how many additional improper registrations have been discovered, and whether the state will finally conduct a comprehensive, independently verifiable audit.
There’s another ugly dimension to this mess, too.
Giugliano is a lawful permanent resident pursuing citizenship. An erroneous voter registration could create unnecessary complications for someone trying to follow the rules and become an American.
In other words, Trenton’s failure to get the basics right potentially hurts election integrity and legal immigrants.
The legislators are requesting a written acknowledgment within five business days, along with an interim status report if the investigation isn’t finished.
“We must emphasize that this matter cannot be considered resolved simply by correcting one individual’s voter registration,” they warned.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Sherrill administration.
Last week, congressional Republicans led in part by South Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew escalated their investigation into the original 6,600-registration fiasco, issuing a subpoena after months of trying to obtain answers from state officials.
Now another noncitizen has reportedly surfaced on the rolls, and the effective registration date raises fresh questions about the scope of the problem.
To be clear, the 2025 date doesn’t necessarily establish that the state registered Giugliano after its previously disclosed glitch period. That’s one of the questions investigators need to answer.
But the larger point is impossible to ignore.
New Jersey keeps assuring voters that its registration system is secure. Yet lawmakers are still trying to determine how many people who aren’t citizens were registered, when it happened, and whether the problem has actually been fixed.
Election Day is November 3rd.
The public shouldn’t still be guessing.
