{"id":2639677,"date":"2026-08-03T13:32:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpolitico-said-noncitizen-voting-was-overblown-now-it-admits-the-entire-system-runs-on-honor\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:37:43","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpolitico-said-noncitizen-voting-was-overblown-now-it-admits-the-entire-system-runs-on-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpolitico-said-noncitizen-voting-was-overblown-now-it-admits-the-entire-system-runs-on-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Politico Finally Admits Voter Registration Runs On Honor System"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignpolitico-said-noncitizen-voting-was-overblown-now-it-admits-the-entire-system-runs-on-honor%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2639677&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent revelation in New Jersey exposed that over 6,000 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote due to a software error in the state&#8217;s motor vehicle system. Approximately 400 of these noncitizens cast ballots. This issue was known within political circles for years but only gained mainstream attention after the admission. The state&#8217;s registration system allows individuals to register using driver\u2019s licenses or Social Security numbers without requiring proof of citizenship, relying largely on an honor system that trusts applicants&#8217; honesty. Republicans have long advocated for the SAVE America Act, wich would mandate proof of citizenship to prevent such occurrences, but Democrats oppose it, despite acknowledging flaws in the current system. Politico has historically downplayed concerns about noncitizen voting, framing the threat as rare and exaggerated, but recent reports suggest the problem is more widespread and systemic. The article highlights that the vulnerability is not new, and efforts to reform the system have been resisted or misrepresented, with the recent exposure bringing the issue into the open.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Politico has spent months telling Americans that Republican concerns about noncitizens in our elections were exaggerated. Yet now that New Jersey admitted more than 6,000 noncitizens ended up on its voter rolls (about 400 of whom voted) \u2014 Politico has discovered the problem was apparently an \u201copen secret\u201d all along.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/21\/6600-noncitizens-found-on-new-jersey-voter-rolls-as-democrats-fight-against-voter-id\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently announced<\/a> that a \u201csoftware error\u201d in the state\u2019s motor vehicle system \u201cled to the registration of roughly 6,600 people who indicated they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024.\u201d The noncitizens allegedly answered \u201cno\u201d when asked whether they were citizens, but the system registered them anyway. Of those registered, nearly 400 illegally cast a ballot, the governor\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n<p>Now that the reality of noncitizens both registering to vote and voting is too difficult for the corporate media to ignore, they have to cover it. Politico\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/30\/new-jerseys-noncitizen-voter-registration-brings-private-worries-into-the-open-01015840?utm_source=dlvr.it&#038;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt Friedman<\/a> reports that the announcement \u201cexposed an open secret about New Jersey\u2019s so-called motor voter law that officials and political operatives have known for years: There\u2019s little to stop noncitizens from registering to vote if they want to, or even by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, \u201celection officials and campaign consultants from both parties believe that the number of noncitizens being added to the voter rolls is significantly higher than the 6,600\u00a0Sherrill\u00a0cited \u2014 because the state has been automatically registering drivers since 2018, and her figure covers only June 2023 to June 2024,\u201d Friedman writes. <\/p>\n<p>One election official told Friedman that \u201cit\u2019s the honor system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s true. New Jersey\u2019s system (like the rest of the federal voter registration system) can use a Social Security number or driver\u2019s license identification number to confirm a prospective voter\u2019s identity, but neither guarantees citizenship since noncitizens can get both of those documents. The system \u2014 as with all federal voter registration systems \u2014 merely asks applicants to tell the truth about their citizenship status. If the system registering does not require proof of citizenship in order to register a new voter, then it depends on the prospective voter being honest (and software processing those answers correctly).<\/p>\n<p>But this vulnerability is neither new nor a secret. In fact, it\u2019s the exact reason Republicans introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would amend the NVRA to require documentary proof of citizenship. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires registration to be available at state motor vehicle departments. But to register to vote, one only needs to attest under penalty of perjury that they are telling the truth about their citizenship status.<\/p>\n<p>But Democrats refuse to support the SAVE America Act, despite Friedman trying to cover for Democrats in the subhead, writing that \u201cDemocrats and Republicans agree the registration system is a mess.\u201d (If that were true, Democrats would join Republicans in passing the SAVE America Act. Instead, they\u2019ve refused). <\/p>\n<p>But for Friedman to frame his story as exposing an \u201copen secret\u201d is an insult.<\/p>\n<p>Politico has known about the problem \u2014 and Republican efforts to fix the problem \u2014 for ages; it just purposely portrayed the efforts themselves as problematic and \u201coverblown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In February Politico\u2019s Dana Nickel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/02\/17\/save-act-election-security-noncitizen-voting-00782470\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complained<\/a> that Washington was \u201cso focused\u201d on the \u201crare\u201d problem of noncitizen voting. Rather than inquire how \u201csafe\u201d our elections are or how susceptible they may be to foreign election interference, Nickel framed the SAVE America Act as a response to an imaginary threat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Hill Republicans and members of the Trump administration have framed these bills as much-needed reform for pressing election security issues, data collected by state election offices suggests that the threat being targeted is largely overblown,\u201d Nickel wrote. But that\u2019s not true, as Friedman\u2019s piece points out, because not only were thousands of noncitizens registered in New Jersey, locals say the number of noncitizens on New Jersey\u2019s voter roll is likely far greater than the state has admitted <em>because<\/em> the system is so vulnerable. Friedman even now concedes that there is \u201clittle to stop noncitizens from registering to vote if they want to, or even by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Nickel insisted that \u201cnoncitizen voting in the U.S. is extremely rare\u201d and that \u201cstate election offices conduct regular assessments of their voter rolls to curb risks of voter fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course Politico\u2019s own recent reporting directly undercuts its reporting from just five months ago. To be clear, absolutely nothing has changed. The system hasn\u2019t changed. The laws haven\u2019t changed. The only thing that changed is that the problem became too big to ignore.<\/p>\n<p>Politico didn\u2019t \u201cexpose\u201d an open secret; the outlet merely started reporting the very same facts that Republicans had been citing all along \u2014 after it spent months smearing GOP-proposed safeguards as unnecessary and restrictive.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Politico finally admits noncitizens voting in NJ was known all along<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2639678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30229936394_4d7a41ef1b_k-e1785777007796.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6571,83620,5894,50432],"class_list":["post-2639677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-elections","tag-honor-system","tag-politics","tag-voter-registration-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30229936394_4d7a41ef1b_k-e1785777007796.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2639677"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2639680,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639677\/revisions\/2639680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2639678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2639677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2639677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2639677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}