ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) today sent a letter to New Jersey Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State Tahesha Way detailing significant issues in voter rolls. The findings underscore the urgent need for improved list maintenance practices ahead of the 2026 elections.
PILF’s review of New Jersey’s statewide voter roll found:
- 14,059 interstate duplicate registrations, where voters are registered simultaneously in New Jersey and at least one other state, including Florida (6,972 cases), New York (5,725), and Pennsylvania (925).
- 15,655 registrations using placeholder or fictitious dates of birth, such as “1800-01-01.” In Essex County alone, over 5,100 records used placeholder birthdates.
- 2,507 duplicate registrations at the same residential address, often due to minor name variations (William vs. Willie at the same address) combined with missing or false birthdate data.
“States have an obligation under federal law to maintain accurate rolls,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “Poorly maintained voter rolls open the door to fraud and undermine confidence in our elections.”
PILF also demonstrated that correcting these problems is not difficult. A random sample of 10 placeholder-date records showed that all 10 true dates of birth were found within minutes, with 2 individuals deceased for more than 20 years and another simultaneously registered in Florida.
Earlier this month, PILF sent a similar letter to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows reporting detailed widespread data quality issues like those found in New Jersey. A full copy of that letter can be found here.
PILF formally requested a meeting with New Jersey election officials to share detailed findings and recommend solutions, including using credit bureau and federal data sources to update records accurately.
To view PILF’s letter to Lieutenant Governor Way, click here.
For more information or to schedule an interview with J. Christian Adams, please contact Douglas Blair at dblair@publicinterestlegal.org or call 503-956-9899