Republican National Committee Threatens Legal Action Against New Jersey Officials Over Noncitizen Voter Rolls

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is intensifying its dispute with New Jersey election authorities regarding voter registration records, signaling potential legal action as it seeks information about noncitizens allegedly present on the state's voter rolls.

On Wednesday, the RNC formally sent National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) violation notices to the New Jersey Secretary of State, along with election officials in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties.

The committee is requesting documents pertaining to the removal of noncitizens, initiatives to verify citizenship, and other activities related to voter roll maintenance. Officials have been given until September 15 to provide these records, or they could face legal proceedings, according to the RNC.

RNC's Allegations and Demands

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters stated in a committee release that Governor Mikie Sherrill's administration had acknowledged what the RNC had previously discovered through public records requests: that noncitizens were indeed on New Jersey's voter rolls. He added that election officials were now declining to release documents explaining how this occurred.

Voters deserve answers, and the RNC is putting officials on notice: Comply with the law, hand over the records or face legal action.

The RNC claims that records from Bergen County specifically identified 134 noncitizens who were removed from New Jersey's voter rolls between January 2023 and August 2026. Of these individuals, 91 registrations were reportedly linked to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), according to the committee.

New Jersey's Separate Voter Registration Issues

Separately, Governor Sherrill's administration has revealed that a software malfunction within the MVC erroneously registered approximately 6,600 individuals to vote between June 2023 and June 2024. This period predates her taking office.

The administration indicated that about 5,100 of the individuals affected by this error were subsequently removed from the voter rolls because they did not have an independent registration or an attestation confirming their eligibility. Another approximately 1,450 registrations were reclassified to a rejected status, pending further review by county election officials.

The state also reported that roughly 340 individuals who were newly registered due to the software glitch cast ballots. Additionally, approximately 220 people impacted by the error voted but possessed prior registrations or separate attestations, suggesting they might have been validly registered voters.

Official Response and Ongoing Efforts

Governor Sherrill affirmed that county officials have been instructed to resolve all remaining cases before the upcoming November election.

She has also previously criticized federal efforts to gain greater control over state voter rolls and resisted requests for nonpublic voter information, characterizing such attempts as a