Court Blocks DOJ Access to New Jersey Voter Rolls

A federal court has blocked the United States Department of Justice from accessing unredacted voter registration records in New Jersey. U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi ruled that the DOJ lacked the legal authority to compel the state to release sensitive personal identifying information, such as Social Security and driver's license numbers, concluding that federal law does not extend to computerized databases created and maintained by the state.

The legal battle intensified after Governor Mikie Sherrill revealed that a software glitch in the Motor Vehicle Commission's automatic registration program erroneously registered approximately 6,600 noncitizens between June 2023 and June 2024. Sherrill reported that fewer than 400 of these individuals cast ballots and that the state has already purged 4,500 confirmed ineligible registrations. While the state attributes the error to a software failure, the vendor IDEMIA disputed this claim, asserting that the state is responsible for verifying eligibility.

This dispute is part of a broader federal effort. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reported that 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote across the U.S., with 250,000 concentrated in California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The administration is using these figures to advocate for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. Meanwhile, New Jersey Republicans have called for further investigations, citing reports that 75,000 noncitizens were also summoned for jury duty via state databases. The DOJ has vowed to appeal the court's decision as it pursues similar lawsuits in other states.