On April 28, 2026, Texas made an admission to the federal government: Individuals who told the Department of Motor Vehicles that they were not U.S. citizens were nevertheless registered to vote. Texas's Secretary of State called it "a clerical error."

The Trump administration did not decry the state for voter fraud. Right-wing media figures did not assert it was a deep state conspiracy. The legacy media did not treat it as headline news.

Nor should it have been.

It was, as Texas said, a simple clerical error. Officials found the mistake, reported it, and took the appropriate steps to fix it. That was the end of the story.

This is not the first instance of a state making a paperwork error, and it will not be the last.

In today’s media environment, red states are given that grace. If you're a blue state, the opposite is true.

On Tuesday, New Jersey announced that a similar clerical error had occurred in the Garden State: After a software failure, people who had identified themselves as non-U.S. citizens to the Motor Vehicle Commission were accidentally registered to vote.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced the error and said the state was actively working to remove those individuals from the rolls. Like Texas, New Jersey is correcting the mistake.

But unlike in Texas, the Trump administration, right-wing media figures, and the corporate media jumped on New Jersey for it.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon immediately demanded access to personal voter information.

Donald Trump seized the opportunity to spread misinformation, writing on Truth Social: "These are just the ones that got caught. The real numbers will prove to be many times this amount. They are all Dumocrats!." (To be clear: Democrats, Republicans, and independents were erroneously registered.)

Now Republicans are using the error as an excuse to push the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote — a requirement that would have done nothing to correct this error.

Here's the problem for the GOP: These individuals were not trying to claim citizenship. To the contrary, they told the Motor Vehicle Commission they were not citizens. No proof-of-citizenship requirement would have changed that outcome, and none would have prevented a software failure or clerical error.

The SAVE Act would only create hurdles for U.S. citizens seeking to register to vote. The people disenfranchised by this law would be those who are eligible to vote but lack the paperwork needed to convince a government worker that they are citizens.

It would hit some communities harder than others. From Trump's standpoint, that's a feature of the bill, not a flaw.

Black voters are less likely than white voters to have passports. And, of course, the law would hit married women who changed their last names harder than any other group. It is no coincidence that Black voters and women tend to prefer Democratic candidates.

Republicans know that errors like the one in New Jersey can happen anywhere — even in states like Texas. Most importantly, they know these are, in fact, errors.

That is why Republicans didn't attack Texas the way they're attacking New Jersey. They didn't rile up their base or claim it was part of a larger conspiracy, because they knew it wasn't.

They are attacking New Jersey because they believe it's good politics heading into the election.

Republicans don't care about clean voter rolls — they care about seizing control of elections. They care about making it harder for Democrats to vote. They care about giving Trump the power to overturn elections he loses.

It's simple: The Trump administration is using a clerical error in New Jersey to spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud.

It is our job not only to correct them, but to fight back.

That starts with spreading the truth. If your friends or family share misinformation about voter fraud, direct them toward trusted media sources. You can start by telling them to subscribe to Democracy Docket.

It also requires us to keep fighting for democracy — in court and in public. Litigation has proven an effective obstacle to Trump's anti-democracy agenda, including his attacks on free and fair elections. Public opinion is swayed by hearing from us about what Trump is really doing.

The next few months will be critical for democracy. Donald Trump will continue to spread lies. Republicans will seek every advantage through voter suppression and election subversion.

We cannot let down our guard. Mistakes will happen, but they are no excuse for inaction on our part.

➤ Read more premium content