Quick Hit:

A University of Michigan student from China faces criminal charges after voting illegally in Ann Arbor last Sunday, despite being ineligible as a non-U.S. citizen. The student, who registered using his university identification, cast his ballot at an early voting site, raising concerns about election integrity just days before a tightly contested presidential race.

Key Details:

• Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday that the 19-year-old international student faces charges of perjury and unlawful voting for allegedly signing an affidavit identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and casting a ballot in Ann Arbor.

• Michigan election laws prevent ballots from being retrieved or nullified once entered into a tabulator, meaning the student’s vote is likely to count despite the unlawful registration.

• In response to the incident, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated her office had launched a parallel investigation, emphasizing that voter fraud, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of Michigan law.

Diving Deeper:

According to a report from The Detroit News, the case unfolded last Sunday at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, where the student registered to vote using his university ID and proof of residency. The Michigan Secretary of State’s office detailed that after casting his vote, the student reportedly reached out to the Ann Arbor city clerk’s office to inquire about retrieving his ballot, realizing he had broken the law. However, due to election privacy safeguards, ballots are anonymized once counted, making it impossible to isolate and retract individual votes.

Ann Arbor’s city administrator Milton Dohoney Jr., in a message to city council members, disclosed that the student was “fully aware of what he was doing, and that it was not legal.” 

The Michigan Secretary of State and Prosecutor Eli Savit emphasized the importance of protecting the voting process, claiming that while noncitizen voting is supposedly rare, it poses significant consequences. Benson and Savit highlighted the swift actions taken by Ann Arbor’s local clerk to refer the case to law enforcement, adding that the student faces penalties for false identification in a legal affidavit, punishable by up to 15 years, as well as for attempting to vote illegally—a felony carrying up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Photos provided by Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography, University of Michigan.