NJ voter scandal: Trump team says Sherrill is ready to cooperate

🗳️ DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin says he looks forward to working with Gov. Mikie Sherrill to secure New Jersey elections.

🗳️ Gov. Mikie Sherrill's office is disputing a Trump administration claim that New Jersey is now cooperating with DHS on election security.

🔒 New Jersey may turn over some documents to Congress, but Sherrill's office says private voter information will not be included.

Note: This story was revised to reflect comment from Gov. Mikie Sherrill's office.

A claim from the Trump administration that New Jersey is now cooperating with federal officials over noncitizens voting in state elections is being disputed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill's office.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared to signal a significant change in the increasingly bitter dispute when he thanked Sherrill on social media and wrote, “Looking forward to working with you to secure your elections in the future.”

But when New Jersey 101.5 asked Sherrill's office what exactly Mullin was thanking the governor for, spokesman Steve Sigmund said they don't know.

“We don't know,” Sigmund said.

He suggested Mullin may instead have been reacting to a letter from Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell's counsel responding to a congressional demand for documents involving New Jersey's voter registration system.

“And that isn't ‘participating with DHS,’” Sigmund said.

NJ may turn over some voter scandal records

The distinction is significant.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew and Rep. Laurel Lee demanded extensive records from Caldwell, who also serves as secretary of state and New Jersey's chief election officer.
The Aug. 3 congressional letter gave New Jersey until 5 p.m. Aug. 17 to produce the records.

According to Sigmund, Caldwell's counsel responded to the Republican House members and indicated New Jersey “may be able to produce some responsive documents” potentially beginning as soon as next week.

“It’s important to note those would not include private personally identifying information on voters,” Sigmund said.

That maintains a key position taken by the Sherrill administration throughout the controversy: The state has resisted federal efforts to obtain personally identifiable voter information.

Sherrill and Mullin at odds over cooperation

Sherrill revealed in July that approximately 6,600 people who identified themselves as noncitizens were improperly registered to vote through the Motor Vehicle Commission between June 2023 and June 2024.

Fewer than 400 subsequently cast ballots, according to the governor.

Sherrill blamed the registrations on a software error and ordered the ineligible registrations removed.

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have demanded more information about how the registrations occurred, when state officials first became aware of the problem and why the affected registrations remained on the voter rolls.

The congressional committees are also seeking records related to New Jersey's compliance with federal election laws and its interactions with DHS over citizenship verification.

Pressure grows for investigation of NJ voter rolls

Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Ocean, is separately calling for a federal investigation into the state's voter registration system.

Kanitra wants federal officials to examine MVC and voter records to determine whether additional noncitizens were registered outside the group identified by Sherrill. He also wants investigators to compare voter records with people excused from jury duty after identifying themselves as noncitizens.

Congressional Republicans have also raised the prospect of escalating their investigation if New Jersey fails to voluntarily provide the requested information.

For now, however, the apparent breakthrough between New Jersey and the Trump administration touted by Mullin appears to be anything but settled.

Sherrill's office says it has made no new agreement to participate with DHS.

New Jersey may soon begin providing some records to congressional investigators — but according to the governor's office, personally identifying information about voters will not be among them.

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