Federal suit seeks New Jersey voter list-maintenance records after MVC registration error

Republican Party committees and GOP elected officials filed a National Voter Registration Act records case on Sept. 22, 2026, against the secretary of state and five counties — citing incomplete responses and the summer disclosure that an MVC software error registered roughly 6,600 noncitizens.

TRENTON / NEWARK — Plaintiffs including the Republican National Committee, the New Jersey Republican State Committee, U.S. Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr., and state Sen. Anthony M. Bucco filed a federal complaint on Sept. 22, 2026, under the public-disclosure provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), 52 U.S.C. § 20507(i), seeking to compel disclosure of New Jersey voter list-maintenance records.

The complaint, captioned in materials circulating as Republican National Committee et al. v. Caldwell (District of New Jersey, filed Sept. 22, 2026; case materials list No. 2:26-cv-12522 on the PDF header), names defendants including New Jersey Secretary of State Dale Caldwell and election officials in Bergen, Middlesex, Hudson, Union, and Somerset counties. The filing states Essex County is not a defendant because it agreed to produce responsive records in its possession.

What the complaint alleges

According to the complaint PDF:

• On July 31, 2026, plaintiffs submitted written NVRA §8(i) requests to the secretary of state and to election officials in the five named counties seeking records on list-maintenance policies; removals and removal codes; address confirmation notices and inactive status; data exchanges with agencies used to identify deceased, relocated, and non-citizen registrants; and registrants removed as non-citizens.
• Plaintiffs allege the secretary’s office did not acknowledge the request for six weeks. On Sept. 15, 2026 — described as the final day of a statutory cure period — outside counsel for the Department of State’s Division of Elections responded, producing two lists (deleted voters without deletion reasons; currently inactive voters without dates of inactive status) and objecting to or denying other categories, including address confirmation notices that plaintiffs say §8(i) expressly requires states to maintain and make available.
• The complaint seeks a court order compelling production of the requested records.

Official context for the suit includes Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s July 21, 2026 statement disclosing that a Motor Vehicle Commission software failure erroneously registered roughly 6,600 people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens between June 2023 and June 2024. In that same statement, Sherrill said a preliminary analysis showed fewer than 400 of the newly registered individuals voted. Those figures are attributed to the governor’s statement, not to the NVRA complaint PDF.

An earlier RNC NVRA records challenge was dismissed in July 2026 by U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner for lack of standing, according to Democracy Docket and related coverage; the new complaint is a second attempt with revised allegations.