Software Company Disputes Democrat Governor’s ‘Glitch’ Claim, Says NJ Officials Approved Noncitizen Voters
by David Hawkins
The technology company blamed by New Jersey’s Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill for a software error that resulted in roughly 6,600 noncitizens being registered to vote is disputing her account and says state election officials approved the registrations despite receiving accurate citizenship data.
Sherrill confirmed Tuesday that thousands of noncitizens were placed on New Jersey’s voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024 while applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards through the Motor Vehicle Commission.
The governor attributed the registrations to a “serious software error” and said the affected individuals had explicitly identified themselves as noncitizens.
“Last week I learned that a serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System led to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024, almost three years prior to my taking office,” Sherrill said.
“These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway.”
Vendor Says Citizenship Data Was Accurate
French technology company IDEMIA rejected the governor’s characterization of the registrations as a “software glitch” caused by its system.
The company said the information transmitted to the Motor Vehicle Commission and the New Jersey Division of Elections accurately reflected what each applicant had entered.
“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,” an IDEMIA spokesperson said.
“All 6,600 individuals indicated ‘Yes’ to wanting to register to vote and ‘NO’ to being a U.S. citizen.”
“At no point was a noncitizen ever marked as a citizen in the database,” the company added.
IDEMIA said its role was limited to collecting self-reported citizenship information and transmitting it to state agencies.