Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that federal authorities are investigating New Jersey over allegations that nearly 7,000 noncitizens were registered to vote due to a software error in the state’s motor vehicle system.

Governor Mikie Sherrill confirmed that approximately 400 individuals who were improperly registered under the previous administration voted in elections. “This is unacceptable and illegal,” Dhillon stated. Sherrill explained that a “serious software error” in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System allowed roughly 6,600 people to indicate they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024—a period nearly three years before Sherrill assumed office.

Sherrill noted that individuals who answered “no” when asked about citizenship during driver’s license applications were still registered by the system, stating, “These individuals answered ‘no’… but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway.” She emphasized that while the error occurred under former Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s administration, her office immediately ordered an investigation to remove the improperly registered voters from rolls. Preliminary findings indicate fewer than 400 newly registered noncitizens cast ballots in recent elections.

Sherrill condemned the “reckless failures” and “lack of transparency” that permitted the error to persist, reiterating that the improper voting did not occur during her tenure. She also criticized the Trump administration’s approach to election integrity, stating it has repeatedly undermined public trust through false claims about election results and efforts to interfere with democratic processes. The state recently asked for evidence supporting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s claim of 35,000 noncitizen voters, which Sherrill said she received no response to after the federal agency gave New Jersey two weeks to respond.