Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Monday that New Jersey’s response to a recently discovered voter registration error tied to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission should strengthen, not weaken, public confidence in the state’s election system.
Speaking with reporters at a ceremony celebrating the signing of the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act at Union Baptist Church, Sherrill was asked whether the ongoing investigation into the voter registration issue could undermine confidence in elections at the same time New Jersey is expanding voting rights protections.
“I would actually say quite the opposite,” Sherrill said.
“Here in the government of New Jersey we solve problems, we fix them. We make sure we are engaging in election protection and ensuring that every single person has the right to vote. That if you should not be enfranchised in our voting system you are not, but you should not be disenfranchised as well.”
Sherrill said the state is addressing the issue transparently while continuing to investigate how the error occurred.
“We’re tackling the hard problems, and that is inspiring confidence in our electorate and certainly in our election system,” she said. “I think the two go hand in hand: standing up strongly and holding government accountable, and engaging in protecting people and the right to vote.”
Investigation continues
Asked for an update on the investigation, Sherrill said election officials have already begun correcting voter rolls while an independent review continues.
“We are already removing people from the rolls who were not properly on there as we identified the serious system error,” she said.
She added that the state intentionally selected a bipartisan team to conduct the review.
“We have hired a law firm… We have a bipartisan independent investigation going on right now because we have nothing to hide.”
Sherrill also pushed back against calls from Rep. Jeff Van Drew for congressional hearings into the matter, characterizing New Jersey’s approach as focused on solving the problem rather than turning it into a partisan issue.
“Here in New Jersey, we are not making this a partisan fight. We are not using this as a talking point. We deeply believe in the constitutional right of people across this country and certainly here in the state to vote, and we are protecting that.”
Defending the state’s authority
The governor also fielded questions about whether the newly enacted John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act could face federal legal challenges because portions of the law apply to federal elections.
Sherrill said New Jersey has clear constitutional authority to regulate its elections.
“The states are constitutionally in charge of our elections, and we feel like we have broad authority to weigh in here,” she said. “We are passing this legislation, which should give us very strong standing in court to fight for voter rights.”
Privacy and federal requests
Asked whether New Jersey would comply with a Trump administration request seeking information about registered voters who are not U.S. citizens, Sherrill said protecting residents’ personal information remains a priority.
“I am not in the habit of turning over private identifying information of the citizens of New Jersey,” she said.
“I am working to protect people and their private data here in New Jersey.”
The questions followed a ceremony marking the signing of the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act, legislation designed to strengthen state voting rights protections following recent federal court decisions that weakened portions of the federal Voting Rights Act.
