Chinese student to face criminal charges for voting in Michigan. Ballot will apparently count
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Ann Arbor — A University of Michigan student who is from China and not a U.S. citizen allegedly voted Sunday in Ann Arbor and is being charged with two crimes, six days before a pivotal presidential election.
The filing of the charges was revealed Wednesday in a statement from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's office. The press release didn't identify the student, describing him only as "a non-U.S. citizen."
The 19-year-old from China was legally present in the United States but not a citizen, which meant he couldn't legally cast a ballot, according to information from the Michigan Secretary of State's office. He registered to vote on Sunday using his UM student identification and other documentation establishing residency in Ann Arbor, signed a document identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and his ballot was entered into a tabulator, according to the Secretary of State's office.
The ballot was cast at an early voting site at the University of Michigan Museum of Art on State Street, according to the Ann Arbor city administrator.
Later, the UM student voter contacted the local clerk's office, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back, according to Benson's office.
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 setup is meant to prevent ballots from being tracked back to an individual voter.
"We’re grateful for the swift action of the clerk in this case, who took the appropriate steps and referred the case to law enforcement," said a joint statement from the offices of Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit. "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 and Savit are both Democrats.
The person, who has not been identified, is being charged with perjury — making a false statement on an affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration — and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote. The latter allegation is a felony punishable by up to four years behind bars and a fine of up to $2,000, according to Michigan law. The standard penalty for perjury in Michigan is 15 years in prison, but it's unclear what it would be in this case involving lying on an application to vote.
A UM police detective gave a swear-to on a law enforcement investigation Wednesday morning before 15th District Court Magistrate Tamara Garwood for two election charges against the student sought by Savit, court administrator Shryl Samborn said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the student had not yet been arraigned. The student is being represented by UM Student Legal Services, Samborn said.
UM spokeswoman Colleen Mastony directed questions Wednesday to Benson's and Slavit's offices.
In a message to the Ann Arbor City Council members, obtained by The Detroit News, Milton Dohoney Jr., the city’s administrator, said there had been an instance of “potential voter fraud in Ann Arbor” involving a University of Michigan student who’s a green card holder.
“Through a series of actions, the student was apparently able to register, receive a ballot and cast a vote,” Dohoney wrote in an email Monday. “Based upon the scenario that we’re hearing this morning, the student was fully aware of what he was doing, and that it was not legal.”
Dohoney acknowledged in the email that the story might get “picked up by the regional or perhaps national media.”
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This is how easy fraud is:
He was only caught because he turned himself in.
Most of the in person voter fraud I've heard of in recent years has been done by Republicans.
500,000 non citizens in Michigan. If they want to, they can vote and have almost zero chance of being caught.
Michigan might be decided by 10,000 votes again.
Not good for democracy.
If Trump loses Michigan it will be because people there cant stand his traitor ass.
It is a major state and federal crime for noncitizens to vote in any state or federal elections...
And it has a very large Muslim population, most of whom usually vote Democratic. But most will not vote for Harris.
Some won't vote at all. Some will vote for a minor party candidate (Jill Stein, Green Party)...a vert tiny number will vote for Trump
In a close race this could result in Trump carrying Michigan.
Let's look at this as a lawyer might and not be concerned about which country he was from, just that it was a country wherein English would be their second language (in order to not allow racial or political prejudices govern our attitudes). He identified himself completely on the ballot, not hiding anything about himself.
"Later, the UM student voter contacted the local clerk's office, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back, according to Benson's office."
He didn't "turn himself in", he requested return of the ballot, and one might at least assume it was because he may have discovered that what he might have first believed that he was entitled to do was not so, and he wanted it back in order to destroy it, or at least make sure it would not be counted. Remember that English was not his first language and he may have thought that his green card authorized him to do as a citizen might do. Having been a citizen from a country where the citizens do not vote he probably looked it as a new and interesting experience.
I'll bet that what he did was tell people that he voted, and was then told it was illegal for him to do so and then with that realization he OPENLY and HONESTLY asked for the ballot back NOT having any intention to commit a crime.
Whatever happened to "benefit of the doubt", and a person is not guilty of an offence until proven so in a court of law, like Trump was? Is it not necessary to prove INTENT?
I really hope I will eventually hear the result of this.
It seems pretty obvious he did not have intent to commit any sort of fraud, In seem he unknowingly did something he should not have. And when he found out, he tried to undo what he did.
He's in America with a green card, he would be aware that if he committed a crime he'd be deported, so why would he knowingly commit one?