Denise Nataly Migliore, a 51-year-old lawful permanent resident from Australia, was charged in a four-count indictment last month with making false statements in order to register to vote and illegal voting in an election, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced.
The four-count indictment charges her with two counts of making false statements in connection with voter registration and two counts of illegal voting in federal elections.
According to the indictment, Migliore, a lawful permanent resident of the United States who is not a U.S. citizen, is alleged to have knowingly made false claims of U.S. citizenship on or about October 6, 2022, and October 22, 2024, in order to register to vote in federal elections. Prosecutors allege that on or about November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024, she cast ballots in those federal elections after falsely certifying under penalty of perjury that she was a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote, when she was not eligible due to her citizenship status.
Migliore was arrested on July 1 by agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the federal courthouse in New Orleans. The case was investigated by HSI in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
If convicted on the charges, Migliore faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison per count, followed by a period of supervised release, and fines.
“The federal indictment of Denise Nataly Migliore announced Monday is the direct result of Louisiana’s proactive efforts to identify and investigate individuals who may be unlawfully registered to vote. This case originated from information identified through Louisiana’s use of the federal SAVE database and the diligent work of our Election Integrity Division, in partnership with federal law enforcement authorities,” Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said after the charges were announced.
“Every illegal vote cast diminishes the value of the vote of a lawful citizen and erodes public trust in our elections. Cases like this send a clear message that Louisiana takes election integrity seriously, and we will continue using every available tool to ensure that only eligible citizens participate in our elections,” she added.
That thing that never happens happened again…https://t.co/qQV22038x7@ETI_now
— Ken Cuccinelli II (@KenCuccinelli) July 10, 2026
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon referenced the case in the context of the Justice Department’s broader efforts to enforce federal voting laws and assist states with voter roll maintenance. “This is not a fictional issue. We’ve, at the DOJ, prosecuted numerous people in the last year and a half who have voted illegally,” Dhillon said during a recent appearance on Newsmax.
“My job is to enforce all of the federal laws relating to voting. Those laws include criminal penalties, not only for the people who falsely represent their citizenship to register to vote or vote illegally, but also election officials who knowingly allow or conspire with people to vote when they have no legal right to do so, including noncitizens,” she added.
Migliore has publicly responded to the charges in media interviews. She stated that she has lived in the United States for nearly three decades, had a pending application for citizenship, and considered herself a citizen.
“I just didn’t realize that it was such a big deal,” she said.
Migliore also indicated that she received solicitations from the state encouraging voter registration and that no one stopped her during the registration process or when casting her ballot. She described learning of the charges through news reports and stated she has not yet retained an attorney due to financial constraints.
The prosecution is reported to be the first criminal case arising from Louisiana’s use of the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to identify noncitizens on voter rolls. State officials have indicated that the database review identified additional individuals registered to vote who may not have been eligible, with some having cast ballots.
