House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries faced questions on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday, July 26, 2026, regarding a report that New Jersey had thousands of illegal alien voters registered due to a software error.

Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill revealed last week that a "serious software error" caused roughly 6,600 noncitizens to be registered as voters between June 2023 and June 2024. The New Jersey governor’s office stated that fewer than 400 of these registered illegal aliens actually voted and attributed the error to the administration of former Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. The office also confirmed that the illegal registrations are being removed.

When pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash about this significant disclosure, Jeffries acknowledged the issue but pivoted to criticize former President Donald Trump, stating, "Unfortunately, what we have seen from Donald Trump is that, in this particular case, Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy because they have failed to actually deliver on making life more affordable for the American people."

Jeffries expressed confidence in state and local authorities to ensure free and fair elections and said any minor challenges, like the New Jersey case, are promptly corrected.

Separately, Senator Tim Kaine explained to host Shannon Bream that the registrations were due to a computer glitch that misclassified noncitizens as citizens when they registered for driver’s licenses. Kaine emphasized that individuals were not intentionally trying to vote illegally and stated there is no demand from his constituents for a federal voter ID mandate, suggesting such decisions should be left to state legislatures.

Sources