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The top Republican on New Jersey's Judiciary Committee says he has repeatedly warned state officials that automatic voter registration does not have enough safeguards but has been repeatedly dismissed, as thousands of potential voters have been found in vulnerable programs.
Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Totowa, told Fox News Digital that the controversy over Gov. Mikey Sherrill's car voters has strengthened Republican demands for a bipartisan investigation into the subpoena power, warning that the administration's review was too narrow and may fail to capture the entire problem.
“We didn't just reach out to the Motor Vehicle Commissioner, we reached out to the Secretary of State [at the time, Lt. Gov. Taheshia Way]. We are not satisfied with the answers we received from the traffic commissioner, what I can tell you is, 'we are registered, they are informed…that if you are not a citizen, you cannot register to vote'.”
“So people were on the honor system. We didn't think that was acceptable or satisfactory or sufficient as a protection,” he said, adding that the general rejection “is of the honor system.”
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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill addresses a crowd in Middlesex County. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images)
Corrado and others, including Senate Minerals Leader Anthony Bucco, are now calling for a bipartisan special investigation with the power to apply.
Asked if they had heard from Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, Corrado said his team indicated that they wanted to wait for the internal investigation of Gov. Mikie Sherrill is over.
“I have concerns about that because this independent investigation is very small in scope. It is limited to what they call a 'fault' of the car,” he said, adding that the investigation of the warning should go beyond these findings.
Shortly after Corrado spoke to Fox News Digital, reports surfaced that as many as 75,000 non-citizens had been subpoenaed for jury duty using federal information, according to multiple reports, expanding the controversy beyond the Motor Vehicle Commission and prompting more Republican calls for a broader investigation.
Corrado pointed to his repeated requests over the years for clarification on the security of voting systems and how he was denied as evidence that the investigation needs to be more extensive.
When asked about the need for a full investigation, Scutari praised what the governor has already done and said he will set fire to the fire until his investigation is completed.
“A healthy democracy depends on the security of our voter registration systems and on the stewardship of the people entrusted with the task of ensuring that our elections are free, fair, and accessible. It also depends on public trust, and Governor Sherrill deserves credit for exposing this failure… [and] get started[ing] an independent investigation…,” Scutari said in the episode, confirming Corrado's comment that he would wait until it was over.
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A former spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy Mahen Gunaratna also told Fox News last week that his boss had “no idea” about MVC's problems.
“I find it hard to believe, but it is very troubling that the governor did not know what his cabinet members were doing or what was happening under him,” replied Corrado.
“Everything [this] We are putting our electoral integrity at risk, all questions to be answered. And the only way to answer those questions is through a bipartisan legislative committee.”
Ranking member of the Joint Appropriations Committee Declan O'Scanlon agreed that the scandal confirmed the GOP's concerns.
“The truth is that people who have been in power for a long time have said this is impossible; Republicans were conspiracists,” said O'Scanlon, R-Little Silver.
“There are some very bad people on both sides, but those of us in the middle who said that there are real problems here and they are being ignored, and we were accused of being theorists, but we found out that we were right; again.”
Governments. Mikie Sherrill and Philip Murphy meet at the governor's office in Trenton. (Reuters Connect Partner/Reuters)
O'Scanlon said he believed the voter revelations were “historic,” and hours later they were proven true, as reports surfaced about 75,000 people being called to jury duty.
“This could be a real scandal,” he warned, acknowledging that a subpoena hearing was necessary.
“We have to get into this quickly because we have a critical election coming up, which could be a narrow margin. And you want the people of New Jersey to believe in the integrity of their voter numbers and their election,” he said.
“We shouldn't dig this hole.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to NJCourts and Sherrill's office for comment.
Peter McAleer, a spokesman for the federal court system, told Fox News Digital that the jury system comes from the MVC and the lists of the tax and election departments, and the tax department is allowed by law to have non-citizens on its list.
“Judges will be asked about their nationality and other qualifications when they fill out the questionnaire for judge qualifications. Candidates must make sure they understand that if they knowingly give a false answer, they can face punishment for contempt of court,” he said. “Approximately 75,000 people a year are barred from serving on the jury because they lack United States citizenship.”
Corrado and Bucco also vetoed a bill to eliminate voter ID and voter ID and general inspections of election data systems.
“The people of New Jersey need more than excuses and finger-pointing, they deserve action, and there are sensible steps we can take right now,” said Bucco, R-Morristown.
“Get MVC out of the voter registration business.”
State Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Boonton, who recently asked for more scrutiny from Attorney General Todd Blanche himself, told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the 75,000 figure is a red flag that Trenton can't handle on its own.
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“The disclosure that 75,000 non-citizens have been named as potential jury members calls for a thorough investigation,” Pennacchio said in a statement Monday.
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“The governor is suspicious [French software firm] DEMIA, the Murphy administration and President Donald Trump with their ever-increasing numbers,” he said, calling Sherrill's investigation “a hoax.”
“Since the situation of this problem is increasing every day and with the refusal of the Democratic Alliance Legislature to investigate, it is clear that the office of the Attorney General of America must take control,” he said.
