New Jersey Dem gov's blame game backfires after tech company pins noncitizen voter registration on state

The vendor that Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill blamed for a "software error" leading to illegal voting in the Garden State denies wrongdoing and is instead pointing its finger back at the state.

IDEMIA is a French multinational company that provides identity-related security services. Sherrill appeared to divert any government blame for 6,600 noncitizens being added to the voter roll onto the software company used by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

The company said, ultimately, that the voter registration buck stops with the state.

"The voter registration information is transmitted to the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections, which is ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote," IDEMIA said. "Information submitted by IDEMIA must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections."

NEW JERSEY REMOVES 6,600 PEOPLE FROM VOTER ROLLS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO CAST A BALLOT FOR 2024 ELECTION

IDEMIA said that for more than 40 years the software company has worked with the New Jersey DMV Commission to "support the process through which eligible individuals may indicate their interest in registering to vote when applying for or renewing a driver's license or state-issued identification card."

"IDEMIA's role is to transmit information through the motor vehicle system," it added in a statement.

But the actual process for getting on the voter rolls in New Jersey is up to the state, IDEMIA insists.

The state and the company will no longer be working together after the scandal.

Sherrill announced Tuesday that a "serious software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System led to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024, almost three years prior to my taking office."

NONCITIZEN EX-KANSAS MAYOR PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY VOTING MULTIPLE TIMES

Sherrill also said that about 400 noncitizens registered to vote in this manner actually cast ballots.

The news caused a major firestorm, as Democrats for years have insisted that it is impossible for noncitizens to vote, and have sharply rebuked Republicans pushing for stricter voter ID laws and for suggesting that election security is a cause for concern.

"These individuals answered 'no' when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers' licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway," according to Sherrill.

TRUMP INTERVENES AS HOUSE GOP REVOLT PUTS SAVE AMERICA ACT AT CENTER OF SPENDING SHOWDOWN

She stressed three times in the same statement that while the "error" occurred under the previous administration, headed by Democrat Phil Murphy, she ordered her administration's attorney to look into the matter and remove the illegally-registered voters from the rolls.

"Our preliminary analysis shows fewer than 400 individuals who were newly registered for the first time because of the error voted," she said. "They were registered as Democrats, Republicans and Unaffiliated voters and were scattered across the state."

"I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time," she said, emphasizing for the third time that the improper voting didn't happen on her watch.

Sherrill and the Democratic Party were torn to shreds by state and federal officials alike, along with conservative pundits, in the wake of the news.

"This is another example of Democrats failing to secure elections. If Democrats would embrace voter ID – which has broad public support – the MVC’s voter registration failures would have been corrected at the ballot box," said NJ Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio, R-Hackettstown. "New Jersey needs voter ID, because citizens deserve confidence in election results and Trenton Democrats have proven they do not respond to known problems in the voter rolls."

The Trump administration weighed in, too.

"Democrats and their media allies have repeatedly said it is impossible for noncitizens to register to vote, let alone cast a ballot. Time and again, they have been proven wrong. As President Trump has said, there is nothing more important than the integrity of our elections," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. "And this latest incident underscores the absolute necessity of the SAVE America Act. American voters deserve to have confidence that our elections are safe and secure."

"In the same speech where she admits over 6,000 non-citizens were registered to vote, Democrat Governor Mikie Sherrill says that President Trump's address on election integrity is a 'bizarre conspiracy theory about fraud,'" the Republican National Committee said on X.

Reached for comment, Sherrill's office told Fox News Digital: "We will let Governor Sherrill's remarks yesterday and her disgust at the failure of the outgoing vendor and previous administration speak for itself."

Fox News' Charles Creitz and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.