WATCH: Booker continues to reject SAVE Act despite bombshell NJ voter roll scandal
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., argued the discovery that roughly 6,600 noncitizens were mistakenly eligible to vote in New Jersey does not justify passing President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act, insisting the error is unrelated to a lack 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. "We’ve got to protect our voting systems."
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced last week that the state removed roughly 6,600 noncitizens from its voter roll who were eligible to vote in the 2024 presidential election. Sherrill blamed the issue on a "serious software error" in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System.
The scandal comes to light as Trump has been hounding Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, with some GOP members not in favor of passing the legislation and Democrats overwhelmingly opposing it.
"[The SAVE Act] would stop millions of Americans from voting," Booker said about Trump’s efforts to pass the legislation.
Booker argued that Sherrill and the state are actively looking into what led to noncitizens being eligible to vote, as Sherill said she immediately ordered an investigation and for all noncitizens exposed to be taken off voter rolls upon finding out.
"We take this very seriously in New Jersey," Booker said. "People are stepping up."
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"We have a governor that's saying this is unacceptable. We're gonna make sure that we get to the bottom of it. People need to be held accountable."
Booker has been vehemently against passing the SAVE Act, referring to it as a "massive voter suppression bill." Democrats opposing the legislation argue that requiring all voters to provide in-person citizen documentation will halt millions of Americans from being eligible to vote in elections.
Despite his opposition to the SAVE Act, Booker told Fox News Digital that election requirements "should always have proof of citizenship for voting." But he argued this should be handled at the state level, even in federal elections.
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"The states, as the Constitution says, should handle their voting when there's problems or violations of the law. People should be prosecuted."
There is currently no national standard for identifying or reporting these errors in voting systems, like what was seen in New Jersey. This makes it nearly impossible to truly analyze how widespread the issue is. Republicans in favor of the SAVE Act argue the legislation would help resolve and expose these issues.
"We're going to handle the problems in New Jersey, but I hate how it's being weaponized by some people to advance schemes that actually would hurt Americans," Booker said about the SAVE Act.
