New Jersey officials announced that approximately 6,600 noncitizens were accidentally registered to vote in the state due to a data processing error. Governor Phil Murphy stated that the error occurred when the state's Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) incorrectly flagged noncitizens as eligible voters during the voter registration process.
The error was discovered during a routine audit of voter rolls. Officials emphasized that no fraudulent votes were cast as a result of the mistake, and the affected individuals were not aware of their registration status. The state has since removed the noncitizens from the voter rolls and is implementing additional safeguards to prevent future errors.
New Jersey law requires voters to be U.S. citizens, and the incident has sparked calls for stricter verification procedures. The state's Division of Elections is working with the MVC to ensure that only eligible citizens are registered to vote in upcoming elections.
