Driver’s License Glitch? Noncitizen Votes Anyway

A French national says New Jersey’s system let him vote in a U.S. federal election even though he was never an American citizen.

Story Snapshot

A French citizen living in Toms River pleaded guilty to illegally voting in the 2022 federal midterms.
Prosecutors say he knowingly registered and cast a ballot despite being ineligible under federal law.
His lawyer claims New Jersey’s driver’s license system automatically registered him, creating a “mistaken belief.”
The case spotlights voter roll weaknesses and raises new questions about noncitizen voting safeguards.

Noncitizen Guilty Plea Exposes Weak Spot in New Jersey Elections

Federal prosecutors say Eliezer Kadoch, a 39-year-old resident of Toms River, New Jersey, admitted he voted in the November 2022 midterm election even though he is not a United States citizen.^[5] Court documents show he is a citizen of France and has never held American citizenship at any time.^[5] He pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to one count of “voting by an alien in a federal election,” a crime under federal law when a noncitizen votes in a race for Congress or president.^[5]

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Kadoch cast a ballot in an election that included a contest for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.^[5] That made his vote part of a federal election covered by strict national rules on who may vote. Prosecutors say he registered and voted despite being legally barred from doing so because of his foreign citizenship, and the case was investigated by federal law enforcement agencies.^[5]

Automatic Registration Claim Collides With Federal Law

While prosecutors emphasize the illegal vote, Kadoch’s defense attorney offers a very different story about how this happened.^[4] Attorney Yosef Jacobovitch told Fox News Digital that his client “mistakenly believed” he was allowed to vote because he was automatically registered when he obtained his New Jersey driver’s license.^[4] Jacobovitch says there was “never any intent to violate the law or cast an unlawful ballot,” and that Kadoch only later learned the crime does not require proof of criminal intent.^[4]

This claim points straight at New Jersey’s automatic voter registration system, which is tied to state driver’s license applications.^[4] If noncitizens can be swept into the voter rolls when they get a license, the problem is not just one man’s mistake. It becomes a system failure that can quietly chip away at election integrity. Yet officials have not publicly explained how Kadoch’s registration happened or what safeguards exist to stop noncitizens from being added in the first place.^[7]

Harsh Penalties, Rare Cases, and the Integrity Debate

Under federal law, noncitizens who vote in federal elections face stiff penalties, including fines and possible jail time.^[14] In Kadoch’s case, the single count of voting by an alien carries a maximum of six months behind bars and up to a $100,000 fine, with sentencing set for October 26, 2026.^[5] Those penalties exist to protect the core idea that only American citizens choose America’s leaders, a principle many conservative voters see as basic common sense.

At the same time, multiple studies show that proven cases of noncitizen voting are extremely rare compared with the hundreds of millions of ballots cast.^[14] Research cited by both nonpartisan and even conservative-leaning organizations finds only tiny numbers of noncitizen votes, often traced to confusion or paperwork errors rather than organized fraud.^[16] Still, even rare violations can matter when they expose weak points in systems that should never let ineligible voters onto the rolls in the first place.

Why This Single Case Matters to Voter Roll Security

For many readers, the key concern is not whether thousands of noncitizens are voting; it is whether government systems respect clear rules and protect the value of every lawful vote. The Kadoch case shows that a foreign national was able to register and vote in a federal election in New Jersey, then only faced charges years later when federal investigators stepped in.^[5] That timeline raises questions about what state and local election officials are doing to spot noncitizen registrations before ballots are cast.

Experts who study voter fraud note that early claims about large numbers of noncitizen registrants often shrink after deeper review, as bad data matches and outdated records get corrected.^[18] But they also admit that small numbers of noncitizens do slip through, often due to mistakes during registration.^[14] For conservatives who value strong borders, fair elections, and limited government, this case is a reminder that even “automatic” systems need tight checks, clear notices, and real accountability when they fail.