A Non-Citizen Cast a Ballot in Michigan. Officials Say They Have to Count

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A Chinese college student who isn’t a citizen of the United States cast an illegal ballot on Sunday, and Michigan election officials say the law says they must count it.

According to the Detroit News, the unidentified 19-year-old registered to vote on Sunday and “signed a document identifying himself as a U.S. citizen.” The student then cast his illegal ballot, which “was entered into the tabulator.” Ann Arbor City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr. sent an email to city council members saying that “based upon the scenario that we’re hearing this morning, the student was fully aware of what he was doing, and that it was not legal.”

The student has been charged with “Unauthorized Elector Attempting To Vote” and “Perjury — Making a False Affidavit for Purpose of Securing Voter Registration,” according to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

He didn’t attempt to vote; he actually voted, and the machine tabulated his choice. But since all ballots are secret, once a vote is cast and sent through the tabulator, it’s impossible to identify a specific individual’s ballot.

The Federalist:

Yet Benson, in a joint statement with Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, still claimed that Michigan’s elections are “secure” and that “noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event.”

C’mon now, right-wing vote suppressors — there are so few non-citizens who vote, it’s not even worth the trouble of trying to stop it. After all, we’re all honorable people here. Citizens and non-citizens alike are adults (as far as we know) and are on their honor not to violate the law. They check a little box on the voter registration application where they swear by the Lord God eternal that they’re telling the truth about being a citizen. How dare you challenge the word of someone who snuck across the border in violation of the law?

It’s like you right-wingers having a conniption over a few criminal illegals entering the country and raping and killing Americans. It’s so rare that if you make a stink about it, it must be because you’re a racist.

But just because something is “rare” doesn’t mean it’s not happening — or that steps shouldn’t be taken to prevent such an occurrence. Yet Democrats have fought Republicans on legislation meant to prevent a scenario like this. The Republican-led House passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act to require prospective voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Such legislation would have prevented the 19-year-old Chinese national from registering (and voting) on Sunday.

It also would’ve prevented a recent incident that unfolded in Iowa in which Jorge Oscar Sanchez-Vasquez was charged for “registering to vote and illegally voting on the same day, July 16, 2024, in a special election for the Marshalltown City Council,” according to the state’s attorney general.

I have no doubt that the practice is “rare,” whatever that means. Less than 100? Less than 1,000? 10,000? In fact, there’s no defense for allowing non-citizens to vote when the remedy is painfully, stupidly simple.