New Jersey has recently been found 6,600 foreigners on the 2023 and 2024 voter rolls due to a software problem in the state Motor Vehicle Commission’s automatic voter registration system. (Photo: Daniella Heminghaus/New Jersey Monitor)
WASHINGTON – Suddenly, evidence is emerging that noncitizens were on New Jersey’s voter rolls, and fresh questions are emerging about the reliability of Alaska voter data. Republicans say it’s a large deal and an critical boost for their so-far stalled election integrity efforts.
But take a closer look. Congressional lawmakers and independent experts said this week that none of these disclosures are sufficient to significantly support the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to purge noncitizens from the voter rolls.
New Jersey found In 2023 and 2024, there will be 6,600 foreigners on the voter lists, of which less than 400 people actually vote. Alaska officials are asking questions about several thousand voters even though it has not been proven they were ineligible to vote. President Donald Trump won Alaska in 2024 by 44,000 votes.
“The answer is no,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan organization Center for Innovation and Electoral Research, when asked if this news would enhance support for the SAVE America Act.
“They just don’t have the votes in the Senate,” Becker said. “Even if that happened, there are less than three months left until the election.”
House it passed the SAVE America Act in April and last week approved legislation that would give states $10 billion to tighten voting laws.
But any effort to advance the measures is stalled in the Senate, where most measures will need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. There are 53 Republicans in the Senate, but not all of them support Trump’s plan.
Majority Leader John Thune saw a arduous path forward.
The South Dakota Republican said Monday that it would be up to Trump to convince hesitant senators to agree. “If he can change the facts and start convincing some senators from ‘no’ to ‘yes,’ then we will have a different conversation. That’s just reality,” Thune told reporters.
The SAVE America Act, arguably Trump’s top legislative priority this year, would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering and a photo ID when voting. Foreign citizens can no longer vote in state, federal and almost all local elections.
Problems with New Jersey and Alaska
What sparked the latest Republican action was New Jersey Governor Mike Sherrill last week it was revealed that about 6,600 foreigners were registered to vote in the state because of a software problem with the state Motor Vehicle Commission’s automatic voter registration system.
About 400 people actually voted. Sherrill said the bug started in 2023 and took a year to fix. She stated that there was no evidence that it influenced the election results. Sherrill took office in January 2026.
“It is unacceptable that a vendor released software with such an egregious bug. It is unacceptable that it took MVC a year to fix this problem, and it is unacceptable that no one in the previous administration disclosed this and demanded accountability,” she said. The New Jersey Monitor reported.
Last week, Alaska also reported registration problems with its Department of Motor Vehicles. Officials said the state had removed 3,048 people from voter rolls, saying they may not be citizens.
Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, told state lawmakers that a person identified as a non-citizen should contact her agency and ask whether he or she is a citizen or not. – reported the Alaska Beacon.
“It’s not a burdensome request for the department to just contact us and confirm, and that’s what we asked them to do. We don’t require documentation. We don’t require documentation. Nothing like that,” she said.
Auto Voter Law
Federal car voters law in 1993 was largely considered a bipartisan success as a way to make it easier for citizens to register to vote.
Requires states to offer registration with their motor vehicle agencies, including by mail. Registration applications must be attached to applications for renewal and fresh driving licenses.
The 1993 law applies in 44 states, and Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are exempt because there were no registration requirements in place when the law went into effect or voter registration took place at the polls on the same day.
Act of 2002 requires voters to show identification, usually a driver’s license, before they can register.
Non-citizens cannot vote in federal or state elections, but they can apply for a driver’s license.
It is unclear why foreigners appeared on the ballots in New Jersey and possibly Alaska. Was it a software bug? Were the officials negligent? Is there an issue that other countries should know about?
“We don’t know much about it yet,” Becker said.
Evidence of fraud?
The Trump administration earlier this month claimed that as many as 250,000 foreigners were registered to vote in New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania and Nevada.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated that as many as 35,152 “prospective noncitizens” could be registered to vote in New Jersey.
No concrete evidence has emerged to support this figure voting rights analysts questions have arisen about how this number was calculated.
For SAVE Act supporters, last week’s disclosures in New Jersey and Alaska were finally solid evidence that things are going wrong. The following changes have occurred since disclosure:
- The Department of Justice wants names and other information of incorrectly registered people. Sherrill said will not disclose data.
- U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey who heads the House Judiciary Subcommittee, and 18 other House Republicans sent a letter to Sherrill demanding details of what happened. They want to know by August 21 why the state failed to identify the error and why it took so long. “New Jersey should end automatic voter registration with the Motor Vehicle Commission, clean up its voter rolls, and require proof of citizenship to register to vote. These are basic protections that should already be in place,” Van Drew – wrote in the statement.
- Trump and some Republicans called on the Senate to continue session. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wants to keep senators in Washington after summer recess begins behind schedule next week so they can work on election reform. “The Senate doesn’t need a vacation as much as the country needs the SAVE America Act. Let’s cancel the recess,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday. He was joined by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. and Jim Banks, R-Ind.
- Republicans blamed Democrats. In the Senate, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, D-Wyo. he linked the mess to Democrats’ views on illegal immigrants. “Democrats cannot open the border, hand illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, and then act shocked – shocked (as Democrats claim) when these illegal immigrants ultimately vote. Illegal immigrants must not be allowed to vote in American elections,” he said.
Democrats ridiculed such rhetoric.
“Give it up, Donald. The SAVE Act will not become law,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said this week in a speech to Trump.
For Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the situation is tinged with sadness.
“All of this makes me more suspicious that there are problems with the mail-in ballots. I’m sure there are, based on anecdotal information,” he said on the news from New Jersey. “The more the validity of the voting system is questioned, the more people are discouraged from participating.”
Asked if these reports changed the Senate’s votes on the SAVE America Act, he replied categorically: “No.”
