By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-16 02:31:25 | Updated at 2026-10-16 03:26:08
1 hour ago
A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted 10 noncitizens on Thursday for illegally voting in the 2024 elections, bringing the total number of illegal voters indicted and convicted in the state this year to 12.
Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced the cases, which include an illegal immigrant and nine lawful permanent residents. Boyle underscored that there is no more important right a citizen possesses than the right to vote.
“Every non-citizen who chooses to illegally vote subverts our constitutional republic, actively canceling out the vote of a law-abiding citizen,” Boyle said in a statement. “This is not a victimless crime, quite the opposite. Every voting citizen is a victim every time. These indictments should serve as a stark warning to anyone contemplating voting illegally in our 2026 election: we are watching, we will find you if you do it, and we will prosecute you.”
The grand jury reviewed evidence from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative division of ICE. Agents arrested the defendants after the indictments were issued.
“The integrity of federal elections is essential to the health of our democracy,” Reid Davis, FBI special agent in charge in North Carolina, said.
Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella said the arrests show election laws are not optional. Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, thanked the partners and noted the board’s election security and enforcement division.
All 10 allegedly falsely claimed U.S. citizenship to register and vote in the 2024 general election—a felony that can carry up to five years in prison.
Eduardd Omar Majano Sosa, 22, a native of El Salvador and an illegal immigrant in Cumberland County, allegedly registered and voted in 2024.
Gjina Gojcaj McDonald, 60, from the former Yugoslavia, a lawful permanent resident in Robeson County, allegedly registered in 2008 and voted in multiple general elections through 2024.
Others charged include natives of Germany, Jamaica, Haiti, Panama, and Canada, who allegedly registered as early as 1998 or 2004 and voted in 2024 plus prior elections.
The indictment and arrests follow other recent charges and convictions obtained in election fraud cases in the United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina convicted Denis Joseph Bouchard, 70, a Canadian citizen, for falsely claiming to be a United States citizen when he voted. Although Bouchard had lived in the United States since the 1960s, he never became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He unlawfully certified that he was a U.S. citizen on North Carolina voter registration applications and ballots. His false claims of citizenship to vote in North Carolina elections date back to 2004, and voting records confirm that he cast ballots in nine federal elections between 2004 and 2024.
A federal judge sentenced him in June 2026 to two months in prison after a guilty plea to two counts.
On Aug. 28, 2025, a federal grand jury in Massachusetts also indicted a Canadian citizen accused of illegally registering to vote and voting in federal elections in 2022 and 2024. The 69-year-old man had been residing in the United States since the 1960s, but never obtained citizenship.
The Department of Justice on Oct. 12 announced a fresh slate of illegal voting charges, including some against people who are not U.S. citizens. Sixteen people allegedly illegally voted in at least one election, according to indictments and other documents filed across multiple states in federal court.
Four residents from Philadelphia have been charged with voting illegally in the 2024 elections while being noncitizens, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The defendants, despite knowing that they were not United States citizens, knowingly voted in an election held in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, and Presidential elector,” the DOJ said in an Oct. 5 statement.
