New Jersey Governor Urges Halt to Automatic Voter Registration Amid Scandal.
Republican outrage has intensified in New Jersey following the revelation that a "serious software error" in the state's Motor Vehicle System led to the registration of approximately 6,600 noncitizens as voters. This number includes around 400 individuals who may have voted due to the error.
New Jersey Republican state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon has called for a pause on all voter registrations through the Motor Vehicle System until a thorough investigation is completed for every registration processed through the system. O'Scanlon emphasized that the automatic voter registration process has been a point of contention among Republicans for years, with warnings that such a glitch could occur.
Governor Sherrill emphasized during a news conference that the mistake occurred prior to her taking office and criticized her predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, the Motor Vehicle Commission, and the state's software contractor, IDEMIA, for their alleged role in the scandal. However, IDEMIA released a statement pushing back on Sherrill's assertion, stating that its software transmitted information and that the New Jersey Department of State's Division of Elections was ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote.
The controversy comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans push for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which proponents say would crack down on noncitizen voting. New Jersey Sen. Kristin Corrado and Republican Assemblyman Greg McGuckin have also expressed their concerns over the issue, with Corrado saying that Democrats wrote the law, implemented the process, and failed to fix the problems that followed.
New Jersey Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio called for both a halt to automatic MVC registrations and a "top-to-bottom" audit of the state's voter rolls. He believes the problem is more pervasive than 6,600 noncitizen voters and that the automatic process should be immediately halted until citizens are assured that no illegal residents will be registered to vote.
Republican Assemblyman Greg McGuckin likened the 400 illegal votes to "negating the votes of U.S. citizens." The issue has sparked concerns among New Jersey lawmakers, with many calling for a thorough investigation and measures to prevent similar glitches in the future.
