New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday that her administration will not comply with a Justice Department request seeking detailed personal information about thousands of noncitizens who were mistakenly registered to vote, arguing that the federal government’s demand lacks legal authority.

Earlier this month, Sherrill disclosed that an internal review uncovered a software malfunction at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission that resulted in approximately 6,600 noncitizens being added to the state’s voter rolls between 2023 and 2024. State officials also determined that roughly 400 of those individuals improperly cast ballots.

Following that disclosure, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, sent the governor a letter requesting extensive information within five business days. The DOJ sought the names, birth dates, nationalities, home addresses, and voter registration details of the 6,600 individuals, along with voting records for the approximately 400 who cast ballots, including whether mail-in ballots contained the certifications and signatures required under New Jersey law.

Sherrill rejected the request, saying the state would not turn over residents’ personal information.

“Today, I informed @AAGDhillon that New Jersey will not provide the personal information of thousands of New Jersey residents,” Sherrill wrote on X. “The request had no legal basis, and I will always protect New Jerseyans’ personally identifiable information.”

Dhillon fired back on social media, arguing that the governor’s position undermines efforts to protect election integrity and insisting the federal government has the legal authority to obtain the records.

“NJ has a legal duty to keep ineligible voters off its rolls, & our request is grounded in that legal authority. DOJ will get this information through all legal means!” Dhillon wrote.

In a separate statement, Sherrill said the state’s Division of Elections has already begun removing more than 4,500 registrations linked to the software error. She said the remaining cases will be reviewed by county election officials to ensure that eligible voters are not mistakenly removed from the rolls.

Sherrill defended her administration’s handling of the issue, saying the state acted transparently after discovering the problem and accusing President Donald Trump and his allies of exploiting the situation for political purposes.

“As I said last week, this is what accountable government looks like,” Sherrill said. “We inherited a problem.

“We didn’t hide it. We didn’t deny it. We’re investigating it. And we’re going to fix it, the right way.

“That approach stands in stark contrast to how MAGA Republicans have responded to this issue. From the moment I made this public and launched the investigation, Donald Trump and his followers have moved to weaponize the issue to advance their voter suppression schemes. And they are trying to target the individuals affected, who were registered through no fault of their own. I won’t let them do either.”

The Trump administration has disputed New Jersey’s figures, maintaining that the number of noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls is significantly higher. On July 16, Department of Homeland Security officials announced they had identified 35,152 noncitizens registered to vote in New Jersey.

The controversy is also drawing congressional scrutiny. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, said Monday that he intends to hold a hearing on the matter after Congress returns from its August recess and indicated that subpoenas for state records remain an option.

Van Drew and 18 fellow House Republicans also sent Sherrill a letter Friday requesting detailed answers about how the error occurred and what corrective measures the state is taking. The lawmakers gave the governor until Aug. 21 to respond.

“When the state uncovers a failure of this magnitude, it cannot simply acknowledge the problem and move on,” Van Drew said in a news release. “Our elections depend on accurate voter rolls and safeguards that actually work.

“This right here is exactly why we should require ID to vote in our elections. We need answers about how this happened, why it was not caught sooner, whether more ineligible registrations remain, and what is being done right now to secure our voter rolls.”