(The Center Square) – Two U.S. House committees are jointly subpoenaing the New Jersey State Department, accusing the state of not fully cooperating with an investigation into what it says are the more than 6,000 noncitizens recently found on the state’s voter rolls.
In a letter sent to New Jersey Acting Secretary of State Shirley Emehelu, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., called the department’s response “inadequate” to the point of impeding lawmakers’ "ability to conduct oversight and consider legislative reforms."
Despite repeated follow-up requests from the committees, the department as of Wednesday has provided only 12 documents total, claiming “unspecified privilege issues to explain the failure to comply with the Committees’ requests.”
“These ineligible voter registrations raise concerns about the application of federal law in New Jersey as it pertains to accurate voter registration, as well as the effect that New Jersey’s failure to identify and remove noncitizens from its voter rolls has on the civil liberties of American voters and their ability to elect their representatives,” lawmakers wrote.
Between June 2023 and 2024, approximately 6,600 noncitizens – 60 of whom were at the time incarcerated and 750 of whom had specifically selected "no" in the voter registration age-eligibility process – were automatically registered to vote in New Jersey.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, says the illegal registrations were due to a “software error” at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, an accusation the software operating company Idemia has denied.
In response, the committees in August launched an investigation, but to date, they say the department “has not produced any documents that explain how the alleged software error resulting in the registration of noncitizens was discovered or why noncitizens remained on the voter rolls until 2026 – two topics about which the Committees specifically inquired.”
“Without additional details, it strains credulity to believe that every document responsive to the Committees’ request that has not been produced is privileged or that the privileges are being appropriately invoked,” the committee chairs added.
To date, New Jersey has removed more than 5,100 individuals who were registered and referred others to local election clerks for removal, Sherrill says. Approximately 400 improperly registered noncitizens were found to have voted between 2023 and 2024.
President Donald Trump and Republicans have pointed to the New Jersey incident and other cases of illegal voting registration as reasons Congress must pass the SAVE America Act, a comprehensive election security bill that effectively died in the U.S. Senate after passing the House.
The legislation would require Americans to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote, necessitate in-person voter registration for federal elections, and require states to remove all noncitizens from their voter rolls.
Nearly all Democrats have called the bill an attempt at “voter suppression.” Republicans argue that the bill implements “commonsense” election reforms. Many, including President Donald Trump, also believe it is crucial for congressional Republicans to maintain their majority in the midterm elections.
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