A stunning records review in deep-blue New Jersey is raising fresh questions about election integrity after public documents revealed that noncitizens have appeared on voter rolls for years — and in some cases, even cast ballots in previous elections.
The findings, uncovered through a sweeping public records effort by the New Jersey Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC), are already fueling renewed debate over voter registration safeguards and whether states are doing enough to prevent ineligible individuals from ending up in the system.
Republicans requested voter registration data from all 21 counties in New Jersey and began uncovering a troubling pattern: noncitizens seeking U.S. citizenship reportedly coming forward to ask that their names be removed from voter rolls after discovering they had somehow been registered.
For many of these individuals, the concern was serious. Being registered to vote as a noncitizen could potentially jeopardize their citizenship applications, prompting them to proactively alert election officials.
According to documents obtained through the records requests, many claimed they had no idea how they became registered in the first place.
In multiple cases, county officials confirmed that individuals approached election offices asking to be removed.
One standard letter from Atlantic County’s election office reportedly verified that an applicant “did not wish to be a New Jersey registered voter” and allegedly did not understand how they became registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The majority of the cases appear to involve individuals who never actually voted. But not all of them.
According to reports, several noncitizens listed in county records had cast ballots in prior elections before later being removed from the voter rolls. One individual reportedly voted multiple times in elections dating back to 2000, 2001, and the 2008 general election before eventually being removed years later. Another reportedly participated in both a municipal election and a primary race.
The revelations are intensifying scrutiny over so-called “motor voter” systems, where voter registration can occur automatically through DMV interactions — a process critics argue lacks adequate verification safeguards.
Republicans say the findings undermine repeated Democratic claims that noncitizen voting is essentially nonexistent.
RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said investigators have already uncovered hundreds of noncitizen registrants in New Jersey alone, warning that the problem may be significantly larger than currently known.
“This is just the beginning,” Gruters argued, saying only a fraction of cases may ever come to light because many individuals likely never self-report.
The RNC has reportedly sought voter registration maintenance information from nearly every state, while also expanding election integrity efforts ahead of the 2026 midterms.
According to Gruters, Republican staff are already deployed in multiple states to monitor registration systems and identify vulnerabilities before ballots are cast.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Republican Chairwoman Christine Giordano Hanlon said the early findings expose what she described as a glaring weakness in the state’s election system.
“With more records still outstanding, these findings are likely only the beginning,” Hanlon said, warning that New Jersey currently lacks a reliable process to consistently identify noncitizens who end up registered to vote.
State officials, however, pushed back on concerns.
A spokesperson for New Jersey’s Department of Motor Vehicles reportedly described such cases as rare and maintained that safeguards are already in place.
Still, for many Americans concerned about election integrity, the question remains unavoidable: if noncitizens can end up on voter rolls — and some have even cast ballots — how many more cases simply haven’t been discovered yet?
As the battle over secure elections intensifies heading into 2026, Republicans appear determined to make voter roll accuracy a defining issue.
