Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday that her office has charged five noncitizens with offenses related to voting or attempting to vote in the state’s November 2024 general election. The office also charged one U.S. citizen in connection with registering a noncitizen spouse to vote.
Throughout 2025, the Michigan Department of State referred 16 cases of suspected noncitizen voting in the 2024 November general election to the Department of Attorney General. In 2026, an additional 22 cases were referred concerning suspected noncitizen voting or related conduct in elections from 2009 to 2025.
Of the total 38 cases, six resulted in criminal charges, ten were closed without charges, and 22 remain under review. Voter registrations associated with every identified noncitizen voter, whether charged or not, have been cancelled.
The five noncitizens, consisting of lawful permanent residents, a limited-term alien resident, and a United Kingdom resident none of whom held U.S. citizenship, face a mix of misdemeanor and felony charges including false statements on absentee ballot materials, fraudulent registration, election law forgery, perjury, and attempting to vote as an unqualified elector. Potential penalties range from 90 days in jail to several years in prison.
NEWS: Attorney General Dana Nessel just announced charges against five non-citizens alleged to have voted in Michigan’s 2024 November general election.
— Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) August 13, 2026
“In my office, we’ve always taken election crimes seriously, and prosecute attacks on our voting systems to the fullest extent of the law. We’re upholding election integrity by investigating all claims of non-citizen voters, as rare as they are, and holding bad actors accountable when they refuse to abide by the laws that keep our elections safe and secure,” Attorney General Nessel said in a statement.
These charges reflect the severity of the allegations, the sanctity of our democracy, and the tremendous consequences of voting illegally— whether that’s done to try and ‘test’ security measures or to make an unlawful vote count.” She added that some cases proved nuanced due to limited federal access to citizenship records.
Among closed cases, investigators determined two referred individuals were U.S. citizens, one was presumed a citizen based on an early international adoption with incomplete records, and another held status as a federally recognized American Indian born in Canada without citizenship or voting rights.
All five noncitizens are alleged to have cast ballots among the more than 5.7 million submitted in Michigan’s 2024 general election, and review of remaining cases continues.
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