The mechanism matters more than the number. People applying at New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission answered the citizenship question truthfully, saying no. A software error registered them to vote anyway - about 6,600 of them between June 2023 and June 2024 [3].
On the night of July 21, the Justice Department filed a notice of additional basis folding that disclosure into a lawsuit it already had running. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jesus Osete wrote that 'the Division must also verify that no other noncitizens remain on New Jersey's voter rolls, in violation of federal law,' and that the correspondence 'provides an additional basis for the foregoing request' [1].
The request is not narrow. In United States v. Caldwell, filed in the District of New Jersey on February 26 before Judge Zahid Quraishi under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the department seeks every New Jersey voter's full name, date of birth, residential address, and either driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number [2].
The consequence for the individuals has been stated out loud. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the noncitizens involved are 'subject to both prosecution as well as removal from the United States' [3]. That is a federal official proposing to prosecute and deport people over a registration they did not request, and had answered honestly to avoid.
One part of this is genuinely unresolved and should not be written as settled. Governor Sherrill has blamed the vendor: 'It's unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error' [1]. IDEMIA, the state's longtime motor-vehicle contractor, disputes that. 'IDEMIA's role is to transmit information through the motor vehicle system,' the company said. 'Information submitted by IDEMIA must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections' [3].
Whether the failure was the vendor's code or the state's adjudication is a question neither side has yet proved [1][3].
