WASHINGTON, D.C. – The political fallout from New Jersey’s noncitizen voter registration scandal continues to grow.
A group of Republican lawmakers led by Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02), chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, is demanding that Gov. Mikie Sherrill provide a detailed accounting of how approximately 6,600 noncitizens were improperly placed on the state’s voter rolls — and how roughly 400 of them reportedly went on to cast ballots.
In a letter to Sherrill obtained by SaveJersey.com, the lawmakers described the episode as a “catastrophic breakdown” of basic election safeguards and challenged the administration’s contention that the problem can simply be attributed to a software failure.
The affected individuals reportedly answered “no” when specifically asked whether they were U.S. citizens while conducting transactions at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission between June 2023 and June 2024. Their information was nevertheless transmitted for voter registration.
The lawmakers are also focusing on MVC vendor IDEMIA’s account of what happened. The company has maintained that it transmitted information collected by the motor vehicle system but that the New Jersey Division of Elections remained responsible for validating voter eligibility.
If that account is accurate, Republicans argue, the scandal cannot be explained solely as a vendor software malfunction. It would also raise questions about why the state’s own verification process failed to prevent thousands of self-identified noncitizens from reaching the voter rolls.
The letter presents Sherrill with 12 questions, including demands for the precise number of affected registrations, which elections the roughly 400 voters participated in and whether any contests were decided by fewer votes than the number of affected ballots cast within the relevant jurisdiction.
Republicans also want to know whether all affected registrations have been removed, whether the administration will release its full investigative report, what officials or contractors will face accountability and whether New Jersey will cooperate with federal investigations.
The lawmakers additionally pressed Sherrill on whether she supports requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Sherrill has until August 21, 2026, to provide the requested written responses.
For New Jersey Republicans who spent years warning that automatic voter registration could create opportunities for ineligible registrations, the state’s own disclosure has transformed what Democrats frequently dismissed as a hypothetical concern into a very real Trenton scandal.
The letter likely sets the stage for eventual congressional hearings into the largest election scandal in modern U.S. history. Congressman Van Drew’s inquiry is separate and apart from a newly initiated DOJ probe announced on Wednesday.
