New Jersey finds additional people were incorrectly registered to vote in MVC system error
A review of a voter registration processing error at New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission identified 750 additional improperly processed records, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Wednesday.
Gov. Sherrill said the additional records did not involve noncitizens.
The latest update found the errors involved age-eligibility processing issues and people who incorrectly marked that they were eligible to vote despite being incarcerated for indictable offenses at the time, according to the governor's office.
The new findings come months after state officials announced that hundreds of noncitizens may have been improperly registered to vote and allowed to cast ballots because of a software error in the MVC's voter registration system.
According to state officials, the latest review shows about 340 of those incorrect records involved people linked to MVC re-entry events dating back to 2016.
The records showed some residents incorrectly stated they were eligible to vote even though they were serving sentences that made them ineligible at the time.
The review also identified records involving individuals who selected "no" when prompted about age eligibility, but whose voter registration applications were still processed. State officials said all of those individuals were old enough to vote and that no underage person cast a ballot as a result of the error.
Officials said the issue seems to have resulted from users accidentally pressing the wrong button on a PIN pad.
Sherrill said her administration has moved to address the problems by implementing reforms and additional safeguards at the MVC, while blaming the underlying system issues on the previous administration.
She says the state is reviewing and correcting the affected voter registration records.
"My administration continues to move aggressively to fix the serious system error at the Motor Vehicle Commission left behind by the previous administration to ensure our elections remain free, fair and secure," Sherrill said in a statement. "I promised we would be thorough to ensure that no one who is ineligible remains on the voter rolls and that every eligible voter has their voice heard."
