Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac is urging the Trump administration to send federal election monitors to New Jersey ahead of the November 3 election, citing concerns over recent voter-registration errors uncovered in the state.
Kranjac sent a letter to federal officials asking for increased oversight, an investigation into New Jersey’s voter rolls and additional safeguards before Election Day, according to the New York Post.
His request follows the discovery of a major software error at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, approximately 6,600 people who had indicated that they were not U.S. citizens were nevertheless transmitted into the voter-registration system because of a software problem. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said the affected individuals had answered “no” when asked whether they were U.S. citizens, but their information was still sent for registration processing.
A later state review found that approximately 340 people who were newly registered because of the error went on to vote. The state also identified other affected voters whose records may have included separate, potentially valid registrations or eligibility attestations and referred those cases for additional review.
The Sherrill administration says it has already taken corrective action.
Approximately 5,100 registrations were placed in deleted status, while about 1,450 were changed to rejected status pending further review, meaning those individuals cannot vote unless their eligibility is confirmed.
The governor has also ordered broader reforms at the MVC, including a new daily audit system designed to compare customers’ answers about citizenship, age and voter registration with records prepared for transmission into the statewide voter system.
Kranjac argues that the problems justify federal oversight of the upcoming election. His request, however, does notmean that federal election monitors have been ordered or that they will be sent to New Jersey.
The issue has become increasingly political as Republicans point to the registration failures as evidence that stronger election safeguards are needed, while the Sherrill administration says it is correcting problems that originated under the previous administration and has accused critics of using the issue to undermine confidence in voting.
The state’s investigation into the MVC registration system remains ongoing.
Sources: New York Post; Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill; New Jersey Division of Elections
By NJ RADAR Team