GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A non-United States citizen was arrested and charged after he illegally registered to vote and cast a ballot that will be counted in the 2024 election, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The 19-year-old Chinese international student from the University of Michigan falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote and cast his ballot at an Ann Arbor early voting site on Sunday, according to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit. He later called the Secretary of State’s office and asked if he could have his ballot back.
However, the Secretary of State’s office told WLNS, News 8’s sister station in Lansing, that his ballot had already been put through the tabulator and will be counted despite being illegally cast — as there is no way for election officials to track it down. The election process is designed to prevent a voter’s individual ballot from being identified.
The international student was arrested and will be charged with attempting to vote as an unauthorized elector and perjury for making a false voter registration, according to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit.
“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,” wrote Benson and Savit in a joint press release Wednesday.
The clerk took “swift action” and “the appropriate steps,” the release says, referring the case to law enforcement, who “swiftly and thoroughly investigated this case.”
Michigan’s Attorney General has also launched a separate investigation.
“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 release said.
Benson and Savit also reminded people that voting records are public, and that any noncitizen who tries to vote in Michigan will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.