Gottheimer, Kean respond after New Jersey announces noncitizens were added to voter rolls
NEW JERSEY — New Jersey Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Tom Kean Jr. on Wednesday called for election security measures following the state’s announcement that approximately 6,600 noncitizens were added to New Jersey’s voter rolls through the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission between June 2023 and June 2024.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration announced Tuesday that the registrations resulted from a software malfunction at the MVC. State officials said fewer than 400 of those individuals voted and have launched an internal investigation, begun removing the improperly registered individuals from the voter rolls and are replacing the vendor that administered the system.
Gottheimer sent a letter to General Services Administration Administrator Edward C. Forst and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought requesting a government-wide audit of every federal contract involving IDEMIA, the technology contractor whose software was used in New Jersey’s voter registration system.
According to Gottheimer, IDEMIA also provides identity and biometric technology for numerous federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s biometric entry-exit system, the FBI’s fingerprint submission system, driver’s license systems in 36 states and identity operations for the Department of Defense.
“This incident raises serious concerns about the reliability of IDEMIA’s software, the company’s quality control practices, and the federal government’s reliance on a single contractor to manage highly sensitive identity and biometric systems,” Gottheimer wrote.
“A single vendor is thus embedded, simultaneously, in how the government screens travelers, secures ports and hazardous-materials handlers, processes travelers at the border, runs criminal background checks, issues civilian identity credentials, and supports military and intelligence identity operations,” the letter states.
Separately, Kean released a statement calling for stronger election integrity protections.
“Every illegal voter is an attack on the integrity of our elections and the voice of every law-abiding American. The revelations from our state government that we have thousands of illegal aliens on New Jersey’s voter rolls, with hundreds actively voting in our elections is just stunning and completely unacceptable,” Kean said.
“We have watched races for the Legislature, county offices, and local government across our state be decided by razor-thin margins, which is why every improper registration matters and every illegal vote undermines public confidence. It is well past time to take concrete steps to protect our democracy.”
Kean added, “Republicans have the strong, common sense solutions to do just that. First, we should push for unanimous acknowledgement that only American citizens should vote in American elections. Those who actively choose to not protect our democracy must be held accountable.”
