TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 28 (Nationwide Times) — The Republican National Committee has notified New Jersey’s secretary of state and election officials in six counties that they could face legal action unless they provide records about noncitizen registrations and voter-roll maintenance by Sept. 15, 2026.
The notices target Secretary of State Tahesha Way and officials in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. The RNC is seeking records on the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls, citizenship-verification efforts and other procedures used to keep registration lists accurate.
The dispute is part of a broader fight over election records and safeguards in New Jersey. It follows the disclosure of a software error that sent information about roughly 6,600 people to the state’s Division of Elections even though they had indicated to the Motor Vehicle Commission that they were not U.S. citizens.
What does the RNC allege?
The RNC says records from Bergen County show that 134 noncitizens were removed from New Jersey voter rolls between January 2023 and August 2026. It said 91 of those registrations were linked to the Motor Vehicle Commission, or MVC.
The RNC and the New Jersey Republican Party also requested voter rolls from all 21 counties. They said the records included cases in which people seeking naturalization asked to be removed from the rolls after learning they had been registered without realizing it.
The RNC said in its notices that officials must provide the requested records or risk a lawsuit under the National Voter Registration Act. The party said voters deserve an explanation for how the registrations occurred.
The RNC previously sued the New Jersey Division of Elections in Mercer County Superior Court over access to voter-roll maintenance records. In a separate development, a federal judge rejected an RNC effort to obtain broad access to New Jersey voter-roll data, according to reporting on the court proceeding. The supplied records do not identify the judge, case number or ruling.
What caused the New Jersey registrations?
New Jersey officials said an MVC software error transmitted information for about 6,600 people to the Division of Elections between June 2023 and June 2024. Those people had indicated that they were not U.S. citizens.
The state said about 5,100 registrations were placed in deleted status because there was no other registration, attestation or transaction showing that the individuals were eligible. Another roughly 1,450 registrations were marked rejected while county officials reviewed additional records. Those individuals cannot vote unless their eligibility is verified, according to the administration of Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
The House Judiciary Committee said MVC asked IDEMIA, a voter-registration technology contractor, to change certain software settings in June 2024. IDEMIA said the registrations appeared to stop after that change, but the affected people were not immediately removed from the rolls and the issue was not publicly disclosed at that time.
The MVC has said noncitizens appearing on voter rolls is rare. An MVC spokesman said people who register through the agency affirm their citizenship and that suspected cases are taken seriously.
Does the disclosure show that noncitizens voted illegally?
The available information does not establish that every person affected by the software error was ineligible to vote, cast a ballot or had a ballot counted. It also does not show that anyone was charged with a crime.
The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded information about the roughly 6,600 people, including their identities, nationalities, addresses and voting records. The request also sought records concerning about 400 people reported to have cast ballots, though the supplied information does not provide vote counts, election dates, precincts or certification details.
Those figures describe different groups and stages of the review. The state’s totals concern registrations affected by the software error and later administrative actions. The DOJ request concerns the larger group and voting records. The exact number of people who cast ballots, and whether any ballots were unlawful, remains unresolved in the available records.
What happens next?
Two Republican-led House committees asked New Jersey for records related to compliance with the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Their request covered state safeguards, the MVC error, communications with IDEMIA and the use of the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system. The committees set an Aug. 17, 2026, deadline.
The RNC’s separate notices give the secretary of state and the six counties until Sept. 15, 2026, to produce records. The supplied information does not show whether the officials met that deadline or whether the RNC filed the threatened lawsuits.
The dispute centers on how election officials identify and correct registration errors while protecting eligible voters’ records. The RNC is demanding documentation and threatening litigation. New Jersey officials have described the software problem and said affected registrations have been deleted or placed on hold while eligibility reviews continue.
