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Two Senate bills recently introduced in Trenton would change how New Jerseyans register to vote, what they must show at the polls, and how the state punishes illegal voting.
The first, S4616, would end automatic voter registration at the Motor Vehicle Commission. It would require photo identification to vote, and order audits of the state’s voter rolls twice a year. The second, S4627, would increase penalties for voting unlawfully and make it a strict liability offense, meaning prosecutors would not have to prove a person meant to break the law.
Both bills come from Senate Republicans. Both respond to the disclosure this summer that an MVC system error placed about 6,600 noncitizens on New Jersey’s voter rolls.
How 6,600 noncitizens ended up on the rolls
Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced on July 21 that a software failure at the MVC had registered roughly 6,600 people to vote between June 2023 and June 2024. These people were enrolled even though each of them had told the agency they were not U.S. citizens. The MVC’s system asked applicants whether they were citizens, then still offered voter registration to those who answered no. When those applicants said yes to registering, their information went to election officials anyway.
The flaw was corrected in June 2024, but the people already registered were not removed, and the public was not told for two more years. Sherrill said she learned of the problem on July 15 from the Attorney General’s Office and called the delay unacceptable. The state’s MVC technology vendor, IDEMIA, has said its system worked as the state specified.
A preliminary state review found that fewer than 400 of those registered went on to cast ballots. Officials have said there is no evidence any election outcome changed, but they have not released which elections or towns were involved. About 5,100 registrations have since been removed. Sherrill hired former Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa’s firm to investigate, and she has said the affected voters, who answered the citizenship question truthfully, should not be prosecuted.
The issue has also reached Washington. Rep. Jeff Van Drew chaired a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on it on Sept. 15.
Related: What Illegal Immigration Costs NJ: Inside the $8.2B Claim
S4616: Voter ID, audits and no more automatic registration at the MVC
S4616 is sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco (R-Morris) and Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Passaic), a former Passaic County clerk. According to its official description and the sponsors’ announcement, the bill would:
- End automatic voter registration at the MVC. New Jersey adopted automatic registration in 2018, so eligible residents are signed up when they get or renew a license unless they opt out. Under S4616, residents would need to register on their own.
- Require photo ID to vote. Most New Jersey voters today do not have to show identification at the polls. Federal law requires ID only from some first-time voters who registered without it.
- Require audits of voter registration records twice a year. The sponsors describe these as regular, independent and transparent reviews meant to clean up the rolls.
“Get the Motor Vehicle Commission out of the voter registration business, implement voter identification requirements, and establish regular audits to clean up our voter rolls,” Bucco said when the proposal was announced.
The full bill text had not been posted to the Legislature’s website as of this writing. Details that will matter to voters, including which IDs would be accepted, whether free IDs would be offered, and how mail-in voters would comply, are not yet public.
S4627: Tougher penalties, and intent would no longer matter
S4627, sponsored by Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean) and Sen. Carmen Amato (R-Ocean), is described officially as a bill that “increases penalties for voting unlawfully and makes it a strict liability offense.”
Under current law, N.J.S.A. 19:34-11, fraudulent voting is a third-degree crime. In New Jersey, that carries three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. To win a conviction, prosecutors generally must show the person acted fraudulently or knowingly.
A strict liability offense removes that requirement. A person who votes while ineligible could be convicted even if they believed they were allowed to vote, for example, because a government agency registered them.
That change goes to the center of the MVC debate. Sherrill has said prosecuting the affected residents would be “the utmost in hypocrisy,” because they told the state they were not citizens and the state registered them anyway. Republicans have called for prosecutions. S4627 would make cases like these easier to bring in the future. Under the state and federal constitutions, a new criminal law cannot be applied to past conduct.
The bill’s text, including how much the penalties would rise, had not been posted as of this writing.
Reaction and the road ahead
Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, and neither bill has a Democratic sponsor. Neither has been assigned to a committee. Bills in that position rarely advance without support from the majority party.
Democratic leaders have so far focused on the investigation rather than new election rules. Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin both praised Sherrill for disclosing the problem. Sherrill has accused Republicans of using the error as a “political weapon.”
Republicans say the episode proves warnings they made for years were ignored. “New Jerseyans need more than just excuses and finger-pointing; they deserve action,” Bucco said. Corrado has called for “a complete accounting of what happened, who knew about it, when they knew.”
Election experts have urged perspective on the scale. David Becker, an elections analyst, told WHYY the 6,600 registrations amount to about 0.1% of New Jersey’s voter list. Supporters of automatic registration say it keeps rolls more accurate by updating addresses automatically. Critics say the MVC error shows the risk of tying registration to a system that also serves noncitizens.
The debate is likely to carry into 2027, when all 120 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot.
How to follow the bills
Both bills can be tracked on the New Jersey Legislature’s website at S4616 and S4627. The next step for each would be a committee referral and a hearing. Residents can find their own senator and Assembly members through the Legislature’s district lookup and share their views directly.
Neither bill changes anything for the Nov. 3 election. Voters can check their registration status through the New Jersey Division of Elections.
