Company at center of NJ voter registration scandal has multiple state contracts

State taxpayers have paid the company about $61.1 million so far total, the records show.

A spokesman for Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who said last week that her administration is moving to terminate Idemia’s contract with the motor vehicle agency, declined to say whether the other two contracts are in jeopardy. Idemia, which has denied responsibility for registering non-citizens, did not respond to a request for comment.

Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-Sussex), who is among the Republicans who has called for a bipartisan legislative committee to investigate the voter registration matter, said it doesn’t make sense for the Sherrill administration to target only Idemia’s contract with the Motor Vehicle Commission.

“If Idemia really was the problem here and lost the state’s confidence, why would we be concerned with that and not actual background checks?” she said.

Sherrill last week announced that about 6,600 non-citizens had been added to the state voter rolls for a year starting in June 2023 because of what she called a software glitch on Idemia’s part. She said non-citizens who were prompted at the agency to say whether they were citizens would respond no, but the software identified them as citizens anyway. About 400 of them cast ballots, she said.

Sherrill said Thursday that the motor vehicle commissioner had moved to end Idemia’s work with the agency because the company “was at the heart” of the agency’s failures.

“The commissioner was already in the process of removing them for their incompetence,” Sherrill said.

Idemia’s contract to assist with enhanced driver’s licenses was issued in January 2010 and ends in January 2027. It has been paid $35.7 million so far, records show.

It also holds a contract with the State Police related to an electronic fingerprinting system, a contract that started in January 2019, runs through January 2027, and has cost the state roughly $3.8 million so far, the records show.

Another contract that began in May 2019 and expires in May 2027 allows Idemia to provide electronic fingerprinting for background checks and other “noncriminal justice purposes” for agencies across state government. New Jersey has spent about $21.6 million on that contract to date, the records show.

Fantasia thinks moving to sever Idemia’s contract now would be a mistake. She said she does not believe Sherrill’s story that the 6,600 non-citizens were registered because of a software error.

“Without an investigation, I think we’re setting ourselves up for a serious lawsuit,” Fantasia said. “If the flag we’re carrying is we’re getting rid of them because of this software glitch, that has yet to be proven. That’s an assertion by the governor. The vendor denies it. So to me, that’s hardly irrefutable evidence.”

The company is also a contractor with the federal government. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, last week requested a government-wide audit of every federal contract involving Idemia, suggesting there could be a deeper problem as the company “sits at the center of the federal government’s identity, screening, and border infrastructure.” He pointed to contracts for TSA PreCheck, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s biometric entry-exit system, and identity operations at the U.S. Department of Defense, including contracts with driver’s license systems in 36 states.

“A ‘small’ software issue like what happened in New Jersey could, right now, be allowing improperly vetted individuals to enter our airports and board our airplanes,” Gottheimer told federal budget officials last week.

Sherrill has blamed the administration of her predecessor, Phil Murphy (D), in addition to Idemia because the problem started when he was governor. Sherrill took office in January.

Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna said Friday that Murphy was unaware of this issue before Sherrill brought it to light this week.

The registration matter has drawn national attention, including criticism from President Donald Trump. The Trump administration is suing New Jersey over the state’s refusal to hand over unredacted voter roll information. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has alleged that more than 35,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in New Jersey.

Dana DiFilippo contributed.