<span class ="kicker">Breitbart article on Smith-signed letter to NJ Gov. Sherrill</span>'NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill Attacks Republicans, Doesn’t Answer for 6,600 Noncitizen Voter Registrations'

This press release from Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) was published on 2026-08-24 and titled "<span class ="kicker">Breitbart article on Smith-signed letter to NJ Gov. Sherrill</span>'NJ Gov. Mikie Sher".

<span class ="kicker">Breitbart article on Smith-signed letter to NJ Gov. Sherrill</span>'NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill Attacks Republicans, Doesn’t Answer for 6,600 Noncitizen Voter Registrations'

By Jasmyn Jordan Published August 24, 2026 New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) responded to a group of House Republicans seeking answers over approximately 6,600 noncitizens who were registered to vote through the state’s motor-vehicle system, but her three-page reply did not directly identify which elections were affected, explain how people who identified themselves as noncitizens were validated as eligible voters, or say who would be held accountable. Nineteen House Republicans, led by Republican Study Committee member Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), sent Sherrill a July 24 letter seeking written responses to 12 questions after her administration disclosed that roughly 6,600 people who indicated they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024 were nevertheless registered to vote, with a preliminary review finding that fewer than 400 cast ballots. “This right here is exactly why we should require ID to vote in our elections,” Van Drew told Breitbart News at the time, adding that lawmakers needed answers about “how this happened, why it was not caught sooner, and whether more ineligible registrations remain.” Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images The lawmakers asked Sherrill to identify the elections in which affected individuals cast ballots, whether any race was decided by a margin smaller than the number of unlawfully cast ballots in that jurisdiction, what voter-eligibility validation failed, whether all affected registrations had been removed, what changes would be made before the 2026 general election, and whether officials or contractors would be held accountable. “We look forward to Governor Sherrill’s prompt response,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) said. The lawmakers requested complete written responses by August 21. Sherrill responded on the August 21 deadline to the July 24 letter. She wrote that her administration was “fully committed to ensuring that elections in New Jersey remain free and fair” and said the state treats election integrity “as a matter of the utmost seriousness.” She said she had publicly disclosed the problem on July 21, three days before the lawmakers’ letter, and described it as “a registration error” that occurred “years before I took office.” Sherrill wrote that her administration had “moved aggressively to remediate the issue and remove affected individuals from the voter rolls” and that she had ordered “an immediate investigation that is ongoing,” conducted by what she described as “a bipartisan firm led by the former state Attorney General for a Republican Governor.” She added, “This work remains my focus.” The governor then turned on the Republican lawmakers, writing that “Washington Republicans, on the other hand, seem much more concerned with using the issue for political gain than they are with protecting our elections.” Sherrill said several signatories had supported President Donald Trump “in his efforts to undermine our election system and defund election security,” wrote that seven “attempted to overturn the 2020 elections and voted to challenge the electoral votes of states,” and said one signatory had employed “an operative convicted of voter fraud, bribery, and blackmail.” Sherrill also disputed the lawmakers’ contention that the SAVE America Act would have prevented the registrations, writing, “I encourage you to become more familiar with the legislation you have cosponsored.” She noted that the affected individuals had answered that they were not citizens, although she said a subsequent investigation indicated that “some may, in fact, have had valid registrations.” The governor additionally criticized the SAVE database, writing that it has “well-documented accuracy issues” and saying this has resulted in “the disenfranchisement of eligible citizen voters.” She cited Texas as an example, writing that the database had flagged U.S. citizens as potentially ineligible voters and that some “were likely unfairly removed from voter rolls.” Sherrill raised objections to expanding the federal government’s involvement in voter registration, writing that proposals including “a centralized registry of voters” raise “important concerns regarding personal privacy and abuses of power under President Trump.” She wrote that Trump “has shown time and time again that he will do anything to ensure that only those who support him are able to vote” and said state administration of elections reflects the type of concern “our Founding Fathers sought to guard against.” Addressing the lawmakers’ outstanding questions more broadly, Sherrill wrote, “We will continue to approach this issue with transparency, integrity, and accountability,” and said the commitment was “a matter of record.” She added that “the answers to many of the questions posed in your letter are already matters of public record or have been addressed through information released by my administration,” pointing the lawmakers to three public statements from her office. However,