New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill is blaming a computer error for thousands of noncitizens being added to the state’s voter rolls under progressive Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. One problem: The state’s computer vendor says that’s not how it happened:
IDEMIA, a France-based company that provides technology for issuing identity documents, managing secure payments, and facilitating trusted access and travel, said . . . the problem arose when noncitizen data were sent to the Division of Elections, arguing that state officials, not IDEMIA, were ultimately responsible for validating voter eligibility. . . .
According to the company, MVC requested in June 2024 that the system be changed so applicants who identified themselves as noncitizens would automatically be marked as declining voter registration. IDEMIA said that modification prevented similar registrations going forward, but roughly 6,600 people added to the voter rolls before the change were not removed or publicly disclosed until recently.
Of course, it’s in the company’s interests to deflect blame — just as it is in the interests of Sherrill and New Jersey Democrats to shift blame. That’s what investigations are for. Clearly, this one isn’t over just because Sherrill wants her preferred answer to be taken as the end of the story.