While the public continues to debate the software error that mistakenly registered about 6,600 non-citizens to vote, far less attention has been paid to a broader question: just how deeply has one French technology company become embedded in New Jersey’s identity infrastructure, and how did that happen?
Three Contracts, Nearly Two Decades
According to state records, IDEMIA currently holds three separate contracts with the State of New Jersey, with more than $61 million paid to the company to date.
The oldest contract, covering enhanced digital driver’s licenses, was signed in January 2010 and is set to expire in January 2027. That means the company has been providing these services for nearly 17 years. Payments under that contract have totaled approximately $35.7 million.
A second contract, for the State Police electronic fingerprinting system, was signed in January 2019 and also expires in January 2027. Payments under that agreement total about $3.8 million.
A third contract, signed in May 2019 and running through May 2027, covers fingerprinting and background checks for agencies across New Jersey’s state government. To date, payments under that contract total approximately $21.6 million.
Interestingly, IDEMIA’s relationship with the New Jersey State Police predates these contracts. The company says it has been working with NJSP since 2004, years before any of the current agreements were signed.
Was There Competition?
This is where publicly available information becomes limited.
None of the news organizations that reported on the story, including the New Jersey Monitor, the Washington Examiner, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, identified how many companies competed for the original 2010 and 2019 contracts or whether those procurements were conducted through a fully competitive public bidding process under the state’s standard Division of Purchase and Property procedures.
Public procurement records do show that New Jersey is currently rebidding its driver’s license contract under solicitation T2466 for a new cloud-based licensing system. The procurement process began in early 2025 and went through at least eight amendments by October 2025, with the proposal deadline extended several times.
That indicates a formal competitive procurement process is underway for this portion of the work. However, it remains unclear whether IDEMIA will retain the contract or whether another company will ultimately be selected.
What Officials Are Saying
Governor Mikie Sherrill’s administration has confirmed its intention to terminate the MVC contract with IDEMIA but has declined to say whether the company’s two remaining fingerprinting contracts are also under review.
Republican Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia of Sussex County has argued that if the company can no longer be trusted with technology tied to voter registration, legitimate questions should also be asked about its continued role in other sensitive government functions.
At the same time, she cautioned that terminating the contracts without a thorough investigation could expose the state to legal challenges.
Open Questions
It remains unclear how much information about the original 2010 and 2019 procurement processes is publicly available today, as the underlying bid documents were not included in any of the published reports covering this issue.
At this time, there is no publicly available evidence that IDEMIA’s contracts were awarded outside of New Jersey’s legal procurement procedures or that any irregularities occurred during the contracting process.
Nevertheless, the fact that one company has spent years performing multiple critical government functions, from producing driver’s licenses and supporting the MVC registration system to conducting fingerprinting and background checks for thousands of school employees and other public workers, raises legitimate questions about the level of oversight applied to such significant state contracts.
As the current agreements approach their 2027 expiration dates and New Jersey moves forward with a new procurement process for its driver’s license system, the coming months may determine whether the state continues its relationship with IDEMIA or selects a new vendor.
Regardless of the outcome, the case illustrates how deeply a single technology company can become integrated into critical government infrastructure and why transparency in public contracting remains an issue of public interest.
Prepared by the NJ Radar Online team
Sources & References:
- New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Purchase and Property – Procurement Records & Bid Solicitations (T2466, T2905, T3083).
- New Jersey Transparency Center – Agency Purchasing Records (YourMoney Purchasing Database).
- New Jersey Department of the Treasury – Public Procurement Records and Contract Information.