Nothing screams election integrity quite like a computer system that registers people to vote after they literally press a button saying they are NOT citizens. Welcome to New Jersey, folks, where even the machines ignore what you tell them.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill dropped a bombshell Monday, revealing that a software malfunction in the state's Motor Vehicle Commission system signed up approximately 6,600 non-citizens as voters between June 2023 and June 2024. As Conservative Brief reported, these individuals specifically answered "no" when a keypad asked if they were U.S. citizens. The system apparently heard "no" and thought, "Sure, sounds like a yes to me!"
Let that sink in for a moment. The state built a system with a question about citizenship, people answered it correctly, and the software just went ahead and registered them anyway. That is like a bouncer asking for your ID, you saying "I forgot it," and him waving you through with a VIP wristband.
Sherrill, a Democrat, was quick to point out this mess happened under her predecessor, fellow Democrat Phil Murphy. Nothing brings party unity together quite like throwing the last guy under the bus. She said she found out about the problem last week and immediately told her chief counsel to investigate.
Now here is where it gets interesting. Preliminary analysis showed that fewer than 400 of those erroneously registered people actually voted. Those ballots were split across Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, scattered throughout the state. So at least the glitch was bipartisan in its chaos.
Sherrill, who previously served as a Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, pulled out all the patriotic stops in her statement. She mentioned her oath to defend the Constitution and called the failures "reckless." She also ordered the removal of all incorrectly registered individuals and started replacing the vendor responsible for the system. Because apparently when your software does the exact opposite of what it is supposed to do, maybe you should find a new software company. Revolutionary thinking there.
The timing could not be more awkward. Republican election integrity efforts have been flagging vulnerabilities in motor voter systems across multiple states. The New Jersey GOP's Election Integrity Task Force had already uncovered hundreds of non-citizens on voter rolls through public records requests, with some having cast ballots in previous elections.
For those keeping score at home, voting as a non-citizen in federal and state elections is illegal under U.S. law. So roughly 400 people may have unknowingly broken the law because a computer decided to ignore their own answers.
Sherrill's office has not released further details about the investigation timeline or when they will finish cleaning up the voter rolls. The Motor Vehicle Commission also declined to comment on what specifically went wrong with the software. Probably still trying to figure out why their system treats "no" as "absolutely yes."
Like what you see? Then sign up for our Free Newsletter
