The Republican National Committee and New Jersey Republican Party say a review of voter-roll records in New Jersey found multiple cases of noncitizens who were registered to vote and later asked to be removed from the rolls while pursuing U.S. citizenship.
The findings, reported by Fox News Digital, were based on documents obtained through public-records requests from counties across New Jersey. According to the report, some individuals told local election officials they did not understand how they had been registered and wanted their names removed because they were not U.S. citizens.
Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal or state elections. For immigrants applying for naturalization, being registered to vote — and especially voting — can create serious legal concerns. That is why some individuals reportedly contacted county officials to cancel their registrations once they discovered the issue.
Fox News Digital reviewed documents from Atlantic County showing letters from local election officials confirming that certain individuals had appeared before the office and said they did not want to remain registered voters. Some reportedly claimed they were registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles, though the exact cause of each registration remains unclear.
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Most of the letters reviewed by Fox reportedly showed no voting history. However, the report said a smaller number of cases involved individuals who had previously voted in past elections, including municipal, primary or general elections. The full number of confirmed noncitizen votes has not been independently established by all state officials.
RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the findings raise concerns about voter-list maintenance and election confidence. He argued that the New Jersey documents show the issue is not purely theoretical and said the party is pursuing similar records in other states.
Democrats and voting-rights advocates have generally warned that claims about noncitizen voting can be exaggerated or used to justify aggressive voter-roll purges that may affect eligible voters. They argue that voter-list maintenance must be accurate, transparent and careful, especially in states with large immigrant communities.
The New Jersey issue also comes amid a broader legal fight over election records. Reuters reported in 2025 that the RNC sued New Jersey’s Division of Elections seeking documents related to voter-roll maintenance after public-records requests. The RNC said at the time that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring transparency and compliance with election law.
The Trump administration has also been involved in legal efforts related to New Jersey voter-roll access. Civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, have argued that broad federal demands for voter data could threaten the rights of voters of color and immigrant communities if handled improperly.
The issue is politically sensitive because both sides frame it differently. Republicans say even a small number of noncitizen registrations can damage trust in elections and show that voter rolls need stronger checks. Democrats and voting-rights groups say illegal voting by noncitizens is rare and that election-integrity efforts must not become a pretext for removing lawful voters.
Gruters also connected the New Jersey findings to the RNC’s broader election-integrity agenda. He said the committee has staff working in multiple states and is continuing to challenge election procedures it believes are vulnerable to error or abuse.
That effort includes Republican opposition to election rules that allow mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted after Election Day if received within the legal window. The RNC has argued that delayed counting can create public suspicion and potential vulnerabilities. Election officials in states that use those rules say the process is lawful and allows eligible ballots to be counted after signature checks and other verification steps.
The New Jersey case is not the only recent example of federal attention on noncitizen voting allegations. In May, federal prosecutors charged four foreign nationals in New Jersey with allegedly voting illegally in federal elections and making false statements during the naturalization process, according to reports. Those cases remain part of the broader debate over enforcement, eligibility checks and voter confidence.
For New Jersey officials, the central question is whether the cases identified by the RNC point to isolated administrative errors or a wider weakness in the state’s registration system. The answer may depend on additional records from counties, state election officials and motor vehicle agencies.
As of the Fox report, the governor’s office, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and Atlantic County officials had not responded to requests for comment. Without a full state response, the scope of the problem remains disputed.
What is clear is that voter-roll maintenance will remain a major political issue heading into the next election cycle. Republicans are likely to use the New Jersey findings to push for stricter verification and faster removals of ineligible names. Democrats and civil rights groups are likely to push back against any process they believe could wrongly target eligible voters.
Why It Matters
The story matters because voter-roll accuracy is central to public confidence in elections. If noncitizens are mistakenly registered, election officials need a reliable way to detect and correct those records without discouraging eligible voters from participating.
It also matters because immigration status and voting rights are politically sensitive issues. Even isolated cases can become national talking points, while overly broad enforcement efforts can raise civil rights concerns.
What Comes Next
The RNC is expected to continue seeking voter-roll maintenance records from New Jersey and other states. Additional lawsuits or public-records disputes may follow if states refuse to provide documents.
New Jersey officials may also face pressure to explain how the reported registrations occurred, whether any votes were cast unlawfully, and what safeguards are in place to prevent similar cases in the future.
🚨 BREAKING: Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon and the DOJ just SUED 5 more states for REFUSING to turn over their voter rolls, bringing the total up to nearly 30 states
PURGE THE ROLLS OF FRAUD! No more hiding!
“We sued West Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and New Jersey. This… pic.twitter.com/mbBqHQRv43
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 26, 2026
