DOJ Charges 10 Foreigners With Illegally Voting In Minnesota

A federal grand jury has indicted 10 foreign nationals accused of casting ballots or lying about their citizenship to vote in Minnesota elections.

The 10 were charged in separate cases returned Sept. 24 and announced Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Minnesota. The indictments include nine counts of illegal voting by a noncitizen and nine counts of falsely claiming citizenship to register. The alleged conduct spans the 2022 and 2024 general elections along with Minnesota’s August primary this year.

A false claim of citizenship to vote breaks federal law and can result in up to five years in prison, according to the office. Voting by a noncitizen is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year. An indictment is only an accusation. Each defendant is presumed innocent until the government proves guilt in court. (RELATED: ‘Let This Be A Warning’: DOJ Announces Charges For Election-Related Crimes Across Several States)

The grand jury returned the charges as 10 separate cases, according to the USAO. All 10 defendants hold lawful permanent resident status, according to PJ Media.

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ten Foreign Nationals for Voter Fraud in Minnesota Elections https://t.co/Ov5lrNB7Al

The accused are nationals of Liberia, Lithuania, Ghana, Germany, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada and South Africa, USAO stated. A Ghanaian national is accused of voting in this year’s August primary, according to the office, and a Lithuanian woman faces a count tied to the 2022 general election.

“Voting in American elections is a privilege of American citizenship,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen in the announcement. Attorney General Todd Blanche said enforcing the ban is fundamental to democracy. “That should not be a partisan concept,” he added.

The department has brought more than 90 voter-fraud cases during President Donald Trump’s second term, including 50 in the past five weeks, Blanche said, according to Spectrum News. Homeland Security investigators have made 100 administrative arrests and secured 10 convictions in such cases, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.

Minnesota’s Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon responded to the announcement, according to Spectrum News. “These indictments affirm the fact that noncitizen voting is a vanishingly rare crime,” Simon said. He noted the 10 cases stand against roughly 8.5 million ballots cast in the state during the period in question.

Homeland Security Investigations led the inquiry, according to the USAO. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Teirab is prosecuting the cases.