The Republican National Committee announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Division of Elections for failing to comply with an open records request related to the state’s voter rolls.
The legal action comes as Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli remains locked in a tight race with his Democratic opponent in the traditionally blue state.
According to the Daily Caller, the RNC initially filed its request on March 25, seeking records on New Jersey’s voter roll maintenance and voting machine seal audit logs. A second request followed on June 3, but both were ignored by Secretary of State Tahesha Way, a Democrat.
On June 16 and July 3, the RNC submitted formal letters requesting the relevant records. In response, the Secretary of State’s office provided only partial answers to three of the original 18 requests. The RNC is also sending a letter to the Department of Justice, urging an investigation into Secretary Way’s potential violation of the National Voter Registration Act.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley highlighted that New Jersey’s voter registration rates are significantly above the national average, raising concerns about compliance with federal law.
The RNC also sent a follow-up letter to Secretary Way demanding an explanation for the state’s refusal to comply with the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), which mandates that officials respond to records requests within seven days. The New Jersey Division of Elections allegedly disregarded the RNC’s initial submissions entirely.
“It’s very important that you have the states maintain their voter rolls,” Whatley told Newsmax on Friday. “Actually, it’s a federal law that they have to clean their voter rolls every single year. So, we simply sent a letter out to every single state, including New Jersey, and said, ‘Hey, it’s federal law that you got to do this. When’s the last time you did it and what are you going to do to secure those rolls for this year?’”
Whatley said the legal action was neccesary after Way dismissively ignored the RNC’s letters. “We sent them a follow-up letter. They did not respond. We sent them a follow-up letter. They did not respond. So, yesterday we filed a lawsuit and we’re going to go to federal court and we’re going to say, ‘Hey, you have to abide by this. You’ve got to clean up your voter rolls.’ We also sent a letter to the Department of Justice and said, ‘Hey, they are not following federal law. We think that you should take a look at this,’” he said.
The lawsuit comes as Trump-backed Republican gubernatorial candidate Ciattarelli is polling within the margin of error against U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ). Ciattarelli came close to a major upset in 2021, narrowly losing to incumbent Governor Phil Murphy, who is now term-limited.
Despite being heavily outspent and trailing in polls that forecast a double-digit victory for Murphy, he only won by 3.2 percentage points.