Noncitizen Charged With Voting Illegally in Michigan

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“The University of Michigan should expel this student for violating our laws,” Rep. John Moolenaar said.

Michigan officials have charged a non-U.S. citizen for allegedly casting an illegal vote at an early voting site in Ann Arbor on Oct. 27.

“Only U.S. citizens can register and vote in our elections. It is illegal to lie on any registration forms or voting applications about one’s citizenship status. Doing so is a felony,” the offices of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit stated on Oct. 30.

A clerk had alerted officials about the alleged illegal vote, leading to an investigation. The noncitizen was charged with one count of “unauthorized elector attempting to vote” and a count of perjury for “making a false affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration.” Officials said the non-citizen voting was a “rare event.”

“Noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event. Investigations in multiple states and nationwide have found no evidence of large numbers of noncitizens registering to vote. Even less common is a noncitizen actually casting a ballot. When it does happen, we take it extremely seriously. Our elections are secure and Michigan’s state and local election officials carefully follow the law.”

The officials noted that voting records are public, and any attempts by noncitizens to vote fraudulently will be exposed, and fraudulent voters prosecuted. Detroit News had reported that the illegal vote cast cannot be retracted, as the vote tabulators do not track votes back to the individuals who cast them.

The Epoch Times has contacted Benson’s office for comment.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has also opened an investigation into the matter, independent from Savit’s office.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, testify during a hearing before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 12, 2024. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, testify during a hearing before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 12, 2024. Alex Wong/Getty Images

This is the first year Michigan is offering early in-person voting, which began on Oct. 26 on a Michigan university campus. A 2022 amendment to the state constitution made it so that Michigan voters now have the right to vote in person for nine full days before any major election.

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) criticized the secretary’s office after the illegal vote was cast, citing local media reports that the defendant is a Chinese national and student at the University of Michigan.

“The University of Michigan should expel this student for violating our laws and our state’s leaders need to take serious action against the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to influence our state,” Moolenaar stated.

The congressman repeated previous calls that the university partners with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, which in turn collaborates with the Chinese military, calling this a security vulnerability that should be ended.