New Jersey’s Non-Citizen Voting Scandal Just Got Worse — and Now California Is in the Crosshairs
Governor Mikie Sherrill thought she had a clean exit from New Jersey’s noncitizen voting disaster. Blame the software. Blame the previous administration. Announce an investigation. Move on.
The software company didn’t cooperate with that plan.
IDEMIA — the vendor Sherrill pointed at when explaining how 6,600 noncitizens ended up registered to vote in New Jersey — issued a statement Tuesday that blows apart the “software error” narrative entirely. The company’s role, it said, was strictly to transmit information from the Motor Vehicle Commission to the state’s Division of Elections. What IDEMIA transmitted had to be “validated and adjudicated” by the Division of Elections before anyone got registered. In other words: state election officials manually reviewed those 6,600 applications from people who had already indicated they were not U.S. citizens — and registered them anyway.
This was not a rogue algorithm. This was human beings at the New Jersey Division of Elections processing applications from self-identified noncitizens and putting them on the voter rolls.
That’s not a software glitch. That’s a scandal.
The DOJ probe launched by Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon landed within hours of Sherrill’s Tuesday announcement — before the IDEMIA statement even surfaced. Now that the software company has publicly contradicted the governor’s framing, the investigators have considerably more to work with. The question is no longer just “how did the software fail?” It’s “who approved these registrations, and why?”
And then there’s California.
The same IDEMIA company has a 12-year contract with California’s DMV — a contract signed in 2022, covering all driver’s licenses and identification cards statewide beginning in late 2025. No identical error has been confirmed in California. But the Trump administration has already flagged up to 190,000 potential noncitizen registrations in the state, and California’s Secretary of State is still insisting noncitizen voting is “exceedingly rare” while the state simultaneously refuses to cooperate with federal voter roll review requests.
Here is the logical conclusion every honest observer has to reach: if New Jersey’s state election officials were approving voter registrations for people who self-identified as noncitizens without catching it for over a year — while using the same vendor California now uses — the question of whether California has an identical or similar problem cannot be answered by California’s own insistence that everything is fine. It can only be answered by the kind of independent federal verification that California is actively blocking.
DHS Secretary Mark Mullin made the stakes clear: 250,000 noncitizens identified across just four states reviewed so far. Forty-six states haven’t been reviewed yet. Compliance with the SAVE America Act’s requirements will be mandatory for states that want federal election funding.
Sherrill called Trump’s election integrity focus an attempt to “weaponize elections for political gain.” The White House’s response was on point: Democrats and their allies have repeatedly insisted noncitizen voting is impossible. New Jersey just proved it isn’t. The software company just confirmed it wasn’t the software.
Time to come clean — in Trenton and Sacramento both.
BREAKING: Dolly Parton’s Cause Of Death Revealed: ‘Brief Battle’
Dolly Parton’s death came after a brief battle with cancer, her representatives revealed Tuesday.
The country music legend died Aug. 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. She was 80.
Parton had been admitted to the cancer center Friday, four days before her death. Her representatives confirmed the cancer diagnosis in a statement to PEOPLE but did not disclose what type she had.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement read.
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” the statement concluded.
The “Jolene” singer had also been dealing with kidney and autoimmune issues before her death, PEOPLE previously reported.
Just days earlier, Dolly Parton opened up about her declining health and acknowledged that she had put off addressing some medical issues while caring for her husband, Carl.
“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over [my husband] Carl. You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to manage something like this. Back in the early ’80s, I was down for several months with female issues, and I was struggling with my weight at the time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton told PEOPLE.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in an Instagram video Tuesday on behalf of the Parton and Owens family.
“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he says in the video.
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said she had asked him years earlier to deliver the announcement.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he continued. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver said the moment brought immense pride and heartbreak, but he took comfort in his faith that Parton had been reunited with Carl and other loved ones.
Seaver added: “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless othe
Shocking 'truth' behind Prince Harry's decision to quit major role
Prince Harry should have "resigned in disgrace" from the board of a controversial African wildlife charity, a commentator says. James Walker makes the bombshell remark in Wednesday's episode of this publication's podcast, Daily Expresso.
He and the show's host, JJ Anisiobi, delve into the Duke of Sussex's dramatic decision to step down from African Parks. James, commenting on the controversy, said: "When you hear about this stuff and how long it's been going on for, you should be resigning in disgrace. [Harry] should be saying: 'I'm not touching that with a barge pole. That is a failed entity. We're going nowhere near it'.
"But no. He's still saying he's going to 'support their mission'. And again this Caroline Pearce, executive director of Survival International, goes on to say: 'His departure doesn't undo that record'.
"She alleged that African Parks was aware of the abuses for years, but it was only after Survival complained to Harry that the charity finally commissioned an investigation."
James added: "Well, she's got a point."
It emerged on Monday (August 24) that Harry was no longer a board member of the wildlife charity.
The conservation organisation has admitted that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers against members of the semi-nomadic Baka group in Congo-Brazzaville.
African Parks has said since that it has improved its safeguarding processes both in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and institutionally.
Its admission followed an independent human rights investigation into allegations guards managed and paid by the charity had beaten, raped and tortured indigenous people in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
Harry was president of the charity for six years before he became a member of its board of directors in 2023.
A spokesman for the Duke said he remains an active and avid supporter of African Parks. He added: "The Duke is proud of his 10 years with African Parks and fully supports the ongoing strengthening of its board.
"His commitment to conservation in Africa continues and he remains a supporter of African Parks’ mission."
Human rights organisation, Survival International, said it had been calling on Harry to step down from African Parks for years.
The group's director, Caroline Pearce, said in a statement: "It’s outrageous that for 10 years Prince Harry has served African Parks while the organisation has been responsible for abuse and violence against Indigenous people.
"His departure doesn't undo that record — African Parks itself must now be held accountable, and must abandon this model of fortress conservation for good."
Survival International said indigenous peoples know how best to manage their land and the idea outsiders know better is racist and colonial.
