TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 28 (Nationwide Times) — The Republican National Committee has given New Jersey’s secretary of state and election officials in six counties until Sept. 15 to turn over records about noncitizen registrations and voter-roll maintenance, saying it may sue if they do not comply.
The notices were sent to Secretary of State Tahesha Way and officials in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. The RNC said it is seeking records about people removed from the rolls, citizenship checks and other steps used to keep voter lists accurate.
The dispute centers on a software error at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission that sent information about people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens to the state Division of Elections. State officials said the error affected about 6,600 people between June 2023 and June 2024.
The issue has prompted demands from the RNC, congressional committees and the U.S. Department of Justice. The available records do not establish how many affected people voted illegally, whether any ballots were counted or whether anyone was charged.
What is the RNC asking for?
The RNC says the six county officials and Way must provide records explaining how noncitizens appeared on voter rolls and how officials handled the registrations.
The RNC described the notices as violations of the National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA. The federal law sets rules for voter registration and list maintenance, including requirements that states keep voter rolls accurate while protecting eligible voters from improper removal.
The Sept. 15 date is a deadline set by the RNC in its notices. The supplied records do not show whether the officials have responded, whether they will provide the records or whether the RNC has filed the threatened lawsuits.
“Voters deserve answers, and the RNC is putting officials on notice: comply with the law, hand over the records, or face legal action,” the committee said in a statement.
The RNC previously sued the New Jersey Division of Elections in Mercer County Superior Court for voter-roll maintenance records, according to court filings reported by Reuters. The committee also has sought broader access to New Jersey voter-roll data. A federal judge later rejected an RNC request for broad access, according to Politico; the supplied material does not identify the judge, case number or ruling.
What happened at the Motor Vehicle Commission?
New Jersey officials said an MVC software error transmitted information for about 6,600 people to the Division of Elections even though those people had indicated they were not U.S. citizens.
The state administration said about 5,100 registrations were placed in deleted status because the records contained no other registration, attestation or transaction showing eligibility. Another roughly 1,450 registrations were marked rejected while county officials review additional records. People in the rejected group cannot vote unless their eligibility is confirmed, according to the administration.
A congressional account said the MVC asked IDEMIA, a technology contractor identified in the supplied records, to change software settings in June 2024. That account said the registration issue ended after the change, but the affected registrations were not immediately removed from voter rolls.
The MVC said people who register through the agency affirm that they are U.S. citizens. A spokesman called noncitizens appearing on the rolls “exceedingly rare” and said such cases are taken seriously.
What do the RNC’s records show?
The RNC said records from Bergen County identified 134 noncitizens who were removed from New Jersey voter rolls between January 2023 and August 2026. The RNC said 91 of those registrations were connected to the MVC.
The New Jersey Republican Party and the RNC also requested voter rolls from all 21 counties. They said the records included cases in which people applying for naturalization asked to be removed from voter rolls, saying they had been registered without knowing it.
Those figures come from the RNC’s review and state and county records described in the supplied reporting. The underlying records were not provided, and the material does not explain whether the registrations resulted from a person’s error, an agency error or another cause.
Being listed on a voter roll does not by itself show that a person voted. The supplied records also do not establish whether any affected person knowingly registered or cast a ballot.
Why are federal officials involved?
Republican-led House committees asked New Jersey for records about compliance with the Help America Vote Act, the NVRA and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Their requests cover the state’s safeguards, the MVC software error, communications with IDEMIA and any use of the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, known as SAVE. The committees set an Aug. 17 deadline for the records.
The Justice Department also demanded information about the approximately 6,600 affected people, including their identities, nationalities, addresses and voting records. The request reportedly included records for about 400 people who cast ballots. The supplied material does not provide the ballots, vote counts, election dates or certification status connected to those cases.
The records show several overlapping reviews, but they do not resolve the central questions: how many registrations were improper, how many people were eligible for some other reason, and whether any ineligible votes were cast and counted.
For now, the RNC’s latest action is a records demand aimed at state and county election officials. Whether it leads to another lawsuit will depend on what those officials provide and how the committee evaluates the response after the Sept. 15 deadline.
