Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, stated that the discovery of approximately 6,600 noncitizens mistakenly eligible to vote in New Jersey does not warrant the passage of President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act. He emphasized that the error is not related to the absence of federal voter ID requirements. "Nothing in the SAVE Act would have prevented a clerical error like we've seen in Texas and Oregon and New Jersey," Booker said, highlighting the need to protect voting systems.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill announced that the state has removed the noncitizens from its voter rolls, attributing the issue to a "serious software error" in the state's Motor Vehicle System. This incident has drawn attention as Trump has been urging Senate Republicans to support the SAVE Act, although some GOP members and most Democrats oppose it. Booker criticized the legislation, claiming it would disenfranchise millions of Americans.
He noted that Sherrill is investigating the circumstances that allowed noncitizens to register and stated that accountability is necessary. Booker also expressed that while he supports proof of citizenship for voting, such requirements should be managed at the state level. He pointed out the lack of a national standard for identifying voting system errors, complicating the assessment of the issue's extent. Supporters of the SAVE Act argue that it would help address these concerns.