U.S. House Subpoenas New Jersey Official Over Noncitizen Voter Registration

The U.S. House of Representatives issued a congressional subpoena to Shirley Emehelu, the acting secretary of state for New Jersey, regarding the improper registration of approximately 6,600 noncitizens to vote between June 2023 and June 2024. Representatives Bryan Steil, Jim Jordan, Laurel Lee, and Jeff Van Drew allege that the New Jersey Department of State withheld records and failed to provide sufficient documentation after initial oversight requests in August 2026.

New Jersey officials attributed the registration errors to a computer system failure. However, the software provider, IDEMIA North America, contradicted this claim, stating its software correctly identified the ineligible individuals and that state officials allowed the registrations to proceed regardless.

Lawmakers argue that the failure to remove noncitizens from voter rolls undermines the civil liberties of American voters and may signal shortcomings in federal election laws. The investigation focuses on whether the administration of Governor Mikie Sherrill intentionally refused to divulge critical information about the registration failures.