From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

6,600 noncitizens registered to vote after error in New Jersey motor
vehicle system

Gov. Mikie Sherrill

By GEOFF MULVIHILL The Associated Press

HADDONFIELD, N.J. rCo About 6,600 people who indicated they were
noncitizens while obtaining New Jersey driverrCOs licenses and other state
IDs were improperly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024, Gov. Mikie
Sherrill said Tuesday.

The Democratic governor, who took office this year, blamed a Motor
Vehicle Commission system software error but said a preliminary analysis showed that fewer than 400 of those who registered that way went on to
cast ballots.

The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans
continue to assert that voting by noncitizens is rampant in U.S.
elections, even though itrCOs rare and, when caught, can be punished as a felony that can lead to deportation.

Sherrill promised immediate action and said she has ordered that all erroneously added voter registrations from that period be removed. She
also is replacing the vendor who ran the system and is launching an investigation into how the error happened.

rCLI am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and
the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,rCY she said
in a statement.

She also attempted to head off any future criticism of the issue from
the president.

rCLAs the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections,rCY she said.

The White House on Tuesday used the revelation to promote TrumprCOs SAVE America Act, which would require people to show documentary proof of citizenship before they register to vote and impose voter ID
requirements nationwide. The measure has passed the U.S. House but has
not gotten a vote in the Senate, where even some Republicans oppose it.

rCLAmerican voters deserve to have confidence that our elections are safe
and secure,rCY White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Sherrill also noted that the noncitizens who registered did so as
Democrats, Republicans and independents. About 6.9 million people in New Jersey are registered to vote and more than 4 million cast ballots in
the 2024 presidential election.

Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, was governor when the error occurred. A representative for the former governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Christine Hanlon, chair of the Republican Party organization in New
Jersey, said voter registration needs to be improved and that a
bipartisan investigation should dig into what happened, including why
the registrations werenrCOt disclosed previously.

rCLThe system and verification process must be improved in order to
safeguard our elections,rCY she said in a statement Tuesday. rCLThe public also deserves to know why this was covered up and who was responsible
for keeping this critical information from the public.rCY

In a speech last week, Trump touted an investigation from the Department
of Homeland Security, which said it had identified about 278,000
noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections across the country.
It said most of them were in California, Nevada, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday suggested it was
that report that prompted Sherrill to take action.

rCLAppreciate you responding back to our letter, @GovSherrillNJ. This shouldrCOve been done a LONG time ago,rCY he said in a message on X. rCLJust ONE illegal vote cancels out the vote of a U.S. citizen.rCY

The Pennsylvania Department of State said in an emailed statement
provided by Gov. Josh ShapirorCOs office Tuesday that rCLevidence has shown that noncitizen voting is extremely rare across the country, including
in Pennsylvania.rCY

The department added that it would review any information the Department
of Homeland Security provided to rCLevaluate the validity of these claims.rCY

New Jersey is among 19 states that allow people who are in the U.S.
illegally to hold driverrCOs licenses and other state-issued ID cards, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Every state
allows noncitizens who have legal status in the U.S. to hold a license.

The NCSL also says that about half the states have automatic voter registration in which eligible people who obtain licenses or, in some
cases, other state services, can opt in to voter registration.

In Oregon, officials in 2024 found that about 1,600 people were
registered to vote through the staterCOs DMV even though they didnrCOt show proof of citizenship. Most of them were later confirmed to be citizens.
The number of people wrongly registered grew by more than 100 by last
year, but the state found that only about 30 ineligible voters had cast ballots.

Colorado officials said in 2022 that they had mistakenly sent postcards
to 30,000 noncitizens to encourage them to register. The state said none
would be allowed if they tried to do so.

A 2019 state audit of CaliforniarCOs then-new DMV registration program
found numerous errors, some that might have allowed about 1,500 people
to incorrectly register to vote. Of those, some might not have been U.S. citizens.
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