In a move laden with political and legal implications, New Jersey’s Governor, Mikie Sherrill, has boldly chosen to deny a request from the U.S. Justice Department. The department had sought detailed information about 6,600 non-citizens who inadvertently found themselves registered to vote in the state.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, formally requested an array of personal data on these non-citizens. Her inquiry demanded their names, dates of birth, addresses, nationalities, and registration dates by July 21, pertaining to an investigation where 400 of these individuals reportedly participated in the voting process. Sherrill was given a mere five days to respond.
“Today, I informed [Dhillon] that New Jersey will not provide the personal information of thousands of New Jersey residents,” Sherrill announced through a post on X, an online platform. She firmly asserted that the federal demand lacked any legal standing, vowing to protect the personal data of New Jerseyans.
Accompanying her statement, Sherrill shared a letter addressed to the Justice Department, explaining that the erroneous voter registration occurred beyond the control of the non-citizens involved. She highlighted the relentless efforts of state and local election officials to correct this oversight.
In response, Dhillon maintained that Sherrill’s refusal to assist federal law enforcement only undermines the protection of law-abiding voters in New Jersey.
“NJ has a legal duty to keep ineligible voters off its rolls, & our request is grounded in that legal authority,” the DOJ official wrote on X. “DOJ will get this information through all legal means!”
In her initial request for information, Dhillon said the DOJ would be investigating the matter as an “unlawful dilution of American votes.”
The DOJ also cited the debacle in its ongoing lawsuit against the Garden State seeking access to its voter roll data.
Last week, Sherrill blamed a “serious software error” in the state’s Motor Vehicle System involving French tech company IDEMIA for the mishap.
The software company, however, argues that the state’s department of elections is “ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote.”
Sherrilll has also faced criticism for slamming President Trump’s July 16 comments about election integrity even though she may have already known about the major voter registration problem in her state.
Following Trump’s address, Sherrill signed on to a statement with 23 other Democratic governors calling Trump’s comments about non-citizens being registered to vote and Chinese efforts to interfere in US elections “deeply alarming” and an attempt by the president to “undermine free and fair elections”
Sherrill’s co-signed statement went on to accuse Trump of trying to “intimidate and silence voters” while claiming Democrats are the ones “actually making life better for American families by lowering costs, creating jobs and protecting our freedoms.”
Dhillon claims Sherrill already “knew” thousands of non-citizens were registered to vote in New Jersey but “still went online and called the president a liar and said he was exaggerating.
“Shame on you, governor,” the DOJ official added.