Guardian Calls for Bipartisan Overhaul of New Jersey Voter Registration System

New Jersey Assemblyman Don Guardian is calling for a bipartisan legislative review of the state's voter registration system following the disclosure that a software error resulted in approximately 6,600 noncitizens being mistakenly registered to vote.

Guardian, R-Atlantic, said during an appearance Wednesday on The Lorry Young Show on WOND that the state should investigate what went wrong and then consider legislation designed to prevent ineligible voters from being registered while keeping voting accessible for those legally entitled to cast ballots.

"Investigate it. Form a committee. Fix it," Guardian said.

Guardian said his objective is not to make voting more difficult.

"We should make it easier for people to register to vote," he said. "But they've got to be legally allowed to vote."

The controversy follows Gov. Mikie Sherrill's July announcement that a software error in the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission system resulted in roughly 6,600 people being registered despite indicating they were not U.S. citizens when applying for driver's licenses or identification cards between June 2023 and June 2024.

Sherrill said a preliminary analysis found fewer than 400 of those people voted. She ordered the erroneous registrations removed, launched an investigation and directed the MVC to begin replacing the vendor responsible for the system.

"This entire situation is unacceptable," Sherrill said when announcing the problem last month.

New Jersey law requires a person to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote.

Guardian said he supports the steps taken so far but wants lawmakers involved after the investigation is completed.

"I think you need to turn it over to the Senate president and the speaker of the Assembly and say, come on, let's have a group of legislators that look at this and change the legislation to make sure that illegal voting doesn't happen," Guardian said.

Guardian Revisits 2017 Atlantic City Election

Guardian also used the interview to revisit allegations he raised nearly a decade ago while seeking reelection as Atlantic City mayor.

Guardian said that in 2017 he spent approximately $45,000 of his campaign funds on retired state troopers and attorneys to investigate what he suspected were voting irregularities in Atlantic City.

He alleged investigators equipped people with body cameras and documented improper handling of voter-registration materials and payments to voters.

Guardian also claimed his investigation identified approximately 400 deceased people who had received vote-by-mail ballots or applications.

Those are Guardian's allegations, and South Jersey NewsBeat has not independently verified the evidence he described during the interview.

Guardian said the information was provided to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office at the time and later to federal authorities, but did not result in the investigation he wanted.

"Nothing happened," Guardian said. "And so at that point, my point was the system's corrupt. If I can't fix it, proving all these things, then I don't know what you do."

Guardian lost his bid for reelection as mayor that year.

He said his reason for raising the experience now is not to relitigate that election, but to argue that New Jersey should use the current controversy to examine weaknesses in its registration system.

"This isn't against Democrats. This isn't against Republicans," Guardian said. "This is, again, stuff that's crooked. And the program is bad. Let's fix it."

Jury-Duty Number Requires Important Context

The WOND discussion also cited reports that approximately 75,000 noncitizens are disqualified from jury duty in New Jersey each year.

That figure is real, but it does not mean 75,000 noncitizens were registered to vote, as portions of the on-air conversation suggested.

New Jersey draws potential jurors from multiple databases, including Motor Vehicle Commission, tax and voter records. Prospective jurors then complete a questionnaire determining whether they meet requirements, including U.S. citizenship. About 75,000 people annually report they are not citizens and are therefore disqualified.

The state judiciary has said there is no indication that those people actually served on juries.

Guardian nevertheless argued that the confirmed MVC registration error demonstrates the need for a broader review of how New Jersey verifies voter eligibility.

He also stressed that any solution should avoid creating financial obstacles for legitimate voters, suggesting documents needed to establish eligibility should be available without costly fees.

And he repeatedly framed his proposal as one that should have support from both parties.

"It has to be bipartisan for both parties," Guardian said. "It wouldn't be fair if it happened to the Democrats. It's not fair if it happens to the Republicans."

For Guardian, the confirmed registration error presents an opportunity to do something he says should have happened years ago: determine where the system is vulnerable and fix it before another election exposes the same problems.