(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced Wednesday that charges have been filed against a Chinese citizen, who had been attending college in the state, for allegedly illegally registering to vote and casting a ballot in the 2024 election.
According to Benson’s office, a Chinese student allegedly voted at an Ann Arbor early voting site on Sunday. After receiving a report about the illegal vote, Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office authorized criminal charges, Benson said.
But according to sources for the Detroit News, the Chinese student’s illegal ballot will be counted anyways.
“The student’s ballot is expected to count in the upcoming election — although it was illegally cast — because there is no way for election officials to retrieve it once it’s been put through a tabulator, according to two sources familiar with Michigan election laws,” the newspaper reported.
“The setup is meant to prevent ballots from being tracked back to an individual voter.”
19 year-old Chinese student, non-citizen, arrested for voter fraud in Michigan.
He was able to register to vote based on his student ID, and signed a statement identifying himself as a US citizen.
The only reason he got caught was he asked for the ballot back. But his ballot… pic.twitter.com/YUkhPCh9qP
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) October 30, 2024
Benson didn’t mention the fact that the student’s ballot will still be counted. Instead, she touted the arrest as a win for election integrity.
“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,” Benson said in her announcement.
“We are grateful for the swift action of the clerk in this case, who took the appropriate steps and referred the case to law enforcement. We are also grateful to law enforcement for swiftly and thoroughly investigating this case. Anyone who attempts to vote illegally faces significant consequences, including but not limited to arrest and prosecution.
Benson, who is a Democrat, then downplayed the issue of voter fraud.
“Noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event,” she said.
“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.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
