The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 16 noncitizens with election-related crimes across five states. The charges include illegally voting in federal elections and falsely claiming US citizenship to register to vote.
The charges, announced on Oct. 5, involve lawful permanent residents accused of violating federal election laws.
The alleged offenses include voting illegally, making false citizenship claims on voter registration forms, and providing false information on applications for US citizenship.
Minnesota accounted for 10 of the defendants, the largest number among the cases announced.
Those charged include nationals from Liberia, Lithuania, Ghana, Germany, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa.
One of the defendants, Ghanaian national Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, was accused of illegally voting in Minnesota’s August 2026 primary election and falsely claiming US citizenship when registering to vote.
In Wisconsin, North Macedonian national Sara Luma was charged with unlawfully voting in the 2024 general election.
Prosecutors allege Luma falsely claimed to be a US citizen on her voter registration form. She later admitted to federal law enforcement that she had registered to vote.
Three other noncitizens were indicted in Louisiana for allegedly voting illegally in the 2024 presidential election.
The defendants include Cuban national Pedro Pablo Ruiz, Mexican national Zianya Yllaly Zamorano, and Nicaraguan national Dudley Francisco Zeledon.
Italian national Andrea Catanese was also accused of voting in the 2024 general election.
According to prosecutors, she later falsely claimed that she had never voted in a federal election when applying for naturalization. She allegedly repeated the statement to immigration authorities reviewing her application.
Bahamian national Terrance Patrick Evans was separately accused of illegally casting a ballot in the 2024 federal election.
The charges are part of a broader federal effort to prosecute alleged election violations involving noncitizens.
According to figures provided to Fox News Digital, the DOJ charged 64 foreign nationals across 17 states with voting and election-related offenses over roughly five weeks.
The figures, reported on Oct. 11, show Minnesota leading with 11 defendants, followed by Pennsylvania with 10 and Texas with nine.
Louisiana accounted for five defendants, while New Jersey, California, and Florida each had four.
The department said it had charged 104 people with voting fraud-related offenses since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The spokesperson pointed to Iowa’s 2020 2nd Congressional District race, which Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by just six votes.
The DOJ also said it would pursue election-related offenses regardless of the number of ballots involved.
“Voting by noncitizens and other ineligible voters is a federal crime, and the department will enforce the law whether a case involves one illegal ballot or hundreds,” the spokesperson said.
Federal prosecutors have also secured guilty pleas in some cases.
In Pennsylvania, Filipino national Evelyn Miller pleaded guilty to illegally voting in the 2024 presidential election. She faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The prosecutions come as federal officials examine voter registration procedures ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Authorities have not established that any of the cases included in the DOJ’s nationwide figures changed the outcome of an election.