New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill dropped a bombshell on July 21, 2026, announcing that roughly 6,600 people who aren't U.S. citizens got slapped onto the state's voter rolls and could have participated in the 2024 presidential election. As The American Tribune reported, the Democratic governor blamed a "serious software error" in the Motor Vehicle System, which is the kind of phrase politicians use when they want you to be mad at a computer instead of a person.
Here's the truly chef's kiss part of this whole fiasco. These individuals actually told the system they were NOT citizens and NOT eligible to cast ballots. The software just shrugged and registered them anyway, like a bouncer who checks your fake ID, sees it says you're twelve years old, and waves you into the club. This glorious malfunction ran from June 2023 through June 2024, when someone finally noticed and fixed it. A whole year of "computer says yes" when the humans said no.
According to preliminary findings, fewer than 400 of those improperly added actually voted. They came from cities and towns all over the Garden State, and most had no party affiliation, though some registered with one of the two major parties.
Now here's where things get spicy. IDEMIA, the software vendor, basically told everyone to pump the brakes on blaming them. Spokesperson Lisa Shoemaker pointed out that all 6,600 people checked "Yes" for wanting to register and "NO" for being a citizen. That information was recorded correctly and always visible in the database. So the data was right there, staring everyone in the face, and nobody did anything about it. Accountability is truly a team sport in New Jersey.
Sherrill, naturally, expressed outrage at the situation that happened before she took office, calling it a "reckless failure" and vowing to hold people accountable. She also pivoted faster than a basketball point guard to take a swing at President Donald Trump, accusing him of undermining faith in elections through spreading falsehoods about legitimate results and defunding election security.
Trump, meanwhile, was busy on Truth Social doing what he does best. He posted that the Department of Homeland Security had found 35,152 non-citizens on New Jersey's voter rolls alone, calling them "just the ones that got caught" and demanding Republicans "pass The Save America Act." He also creatively referred to Democrats as "Dumocrats," which is the kind of wordplay that really elevates our national discourse.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters revealing his department cross-referenced voter registration records with federal immigration data. The estimated totals were staggering: 190,823 possible non-citizen registrations in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada, and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. Mullin asked election officials to partner with DHS to verify these matches before taking action.
A spokesperson for Sherrill fired back at the administration, accusing Trump of "weaponizing the Justice Department for political purposes." So basically, everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else while a computer program spent an entire year registering people who literally told it not to. Technology truly is amazing.
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