Noncitizens Voting In New Jersey Could Face Criminal Prosecution, Doj Official Says

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice wants to know the identities of the approximately 6,600 noncitizens on New Jersey’s voter rolls.

Now, it’s up to Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration to decide if the state will hand that list over — which comes as the DOJ mulls criminal prosecutions for the noncitizens caught voting.

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, requested in a letter Tuesday that Sherrill turn over the information within five business days, which seeks the names, nationalities and addresses of the nonresidents on the voter rolls. Sherrill announced this week that her administration identified 6,600 noncitizens on the voter rolls, who were added through a software error at the Motor Vehicles Commission during the Murphy administration. Around 400 noncitizens have voted in elections since 2023, she said. Sherrill added that she was not made aware of the error until last week.

Dhillon’s letter only said that the federal government was investigating if New Jersey was complying with federal law. But in an appearance with conservative influencer Benny Johnson on Wednesday, Dhillon floated the possibility of criminal prosecutions and deportations.

“The consequences of voting when you're not allowed to in a federal election can mean removal to your home country and worse — it's a crime,” she said. “And you know people need to just stop cold in their tracks and not enable it. And shame on New Jersey for its sloppy and incompetent handling of this issue or worse.”

In a statement, the DOJ reaffirmed that it is considering prosecutions.

“It is illegal for any noncitizen to vote in a federal election, and every unlawful vote dilutes the voice of American citizens,” DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said. “The Civil Rights Division is investigating and will keep pressing states to clean their rolls. The Department is prosecuting cases where the law and evidence support it.”

Sherrill has said there is “no evidence” the 400 people swayed the outcome of an election. In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for Sherrill suggested the state would push back against the DOJ request — but did not outright say the state would not comply.

“The Trump administration has a long history of weaponizing the Justice Department for political purposes and attempting to overturn election results,” Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins said. “Governor Sherrill has been clear that she will use all the legal tools available to her to protect New Jerseyan's personal information.”

Sherrill previously said that the noncitizens who voted should not face criminal charges since they were inadvertently added to the state’s voter rolls without their knowledge.

“It would be really the utmost hypocrisy for the state to charge them when it’s our fault,” she said at the press conference. “However, I would not put it past the federal government, so we are working very hard on ways in which we can protect people here.”

Separately, the DOJ is also using the disclosure of noncitizen voters to bolster its case in court to obtain New Jersey’s unredacted voter registration files. The Trump administration is suing New Jersey, seeking access to the state’s full voter file which includes nonpublic information like the drivers license ID numbers and partial Social Security numbers of New Jersey voters.

The DOJ’s nationwide campaign to obtain voter rolls — with sensitive information — has been unsuccessful. So far the DOJ lost 16 lower court cases seeking access to the records.

An independent review is underway to determine what went wrong with the voter registration at the Motor Vehicles Commission. Assembly Republicans on Wednesday called on Speaker Craig Coughlin to form a special committee with subpoena power to also investigate the matter.

A spokesperson for the speaker referred POLITICO to a previous statement from Coughlin which said Assembly Democrats would wait for the results of the investigation before acting.