Federal prosecutors say multiple noncitizens lied about being Americans so they could vote in U.S. elections, striking at the heart of our election system and citizenship laws.
Story Snapshot
- Five New Jersey residents who are not U.S. citizens are charged with illegally voting in federal elections and lying on citizenship forms.
- Prosecutors say they falsely claimed to be citizens on voter registration forms, then denied ever voting when applying for naturalization.
- The cases highlight growing concerns that noncitizens are getting onto voter rolls and sometimes casting ballots for years.
- Left-leaning groups still insist noncitizen voting is a “non-issue,” clashing with fresh evidence from New Jersey and GOP reviews.
Federal Charges Put Illegal Noncitizen Voting Under a Spotlight
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have charged four residents, all noncitizens, with illegally voting in federal elections and making false statements tied to citizenship applications. A fifth resident alien from Slovakia, Marian Charitun, faces similar charges in a separate case. The criminal complaints say these individuals were not United States citizens when they registered to vote and when they cast ballots, yet they took part in elections where federal offices were on the ballot. These are formal accusations, and all defendants are legally presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
According to prosecutors, each of the four main defendants voted in at least one federal election between 2020 and 2024. That period includes the 2020 and 2024 presidential races and the 2022 midterm election for Congress. In Charitun’s case, documents state he was still a noncitizen when he voted in the November 8, 2022 midterm election for a member of the United States House of Representatives. Federal law has for decades made it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal contests, with possible prison time and immigration consequences if they do.
False Citizenship Claims on Voter and Naturalization Forms
The complaints say these defendants did more than simply show up and vote; they allegedly lied on key legal documents. On their New Jersey voter registration forms, prosecutors say they certified and attested that they were United States citizens, even though they were not. After their registrations were approved, they then voted in federal elections as noncitizens. Later, when they applied for citizenship using the standard N‑400 naturalization form, prosecutors say they swore under penalty of perjury that they had never registered to vote or voted in any federal election, despite their earlier ballots.
Charitun’s complaint lays out that exact pattern in detail. It says he falsely claimed to be a citizen on the voter form, voted in the 2022 midterm election, and then lied again on the N‑400 by stating he had never registered or voted in any federal election. Those acts sparked two specific federal charges: voting by an alien in a federal election under Title 18, Section 611 of the United States Code, and unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalization under Section 1425(a). Each count carries possible prison time, with the naturalization fraud charge carrying up to ten years.
Evidence Gaps, Legal Process, and What We Still Do Not Know
These cases are still at the complaint stage, which means the government has laid out its claims but has not yet proved them before a judge or jury. The Justice Department itself notes that a complaint is an accusation, not proof, and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until the government meets its burden in court. So far, the public has not seen the underlying immigration records or full voter roll data that prosecutors relied on to confirm noncitizen status and specific ballots, beyond what is summarized in the filings.
There is also no public forensic report on the voter registration forms or N‑400 applications. For example, we do not yet have detailed analysis of handwriting, electronic submission logs, or other technical data that might show intent or possible clerical error. New Jersey state election officials have not released audit methods or detailed voter record explanations tied to these five individuals, so the public must rely largely on the federal summaries. Defense lawyers may later challenge evidence, offer their own records, or argue confusion, but as of now they have not put out specific counter-documents to dispute the claims about what was signed or how many times these people voted.
Broader Fight Over Noncitizen Voting and Election Integrity
These prosecutions come as New Jersey Republicans say they found much wider problems with noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. A party task force review reported “hundreds of non-citizens” registered across every county, with at least thirty documented illegal votes. They argue that state rules, including driver’s licenses for people here illegally, help noncitizens slip into the voter system and then stay there for years. Some noncitizens have even asked to be removed from the rolls after realizing they were registered.
New Jersey Resident Charged With Illegally Voting In Federal Election & Making False Statements On Citizenship Application https://t.co/RSd2XaFjaq via @Englebrooknews #NewJersey #CrimeNews #MiddlesexCountyNJ #NonCitizen #Federal #Charges #VotingFraud #False #Statements @HRG_Media… pic.twitter.com/vJ4bEgooJQ
— Art Fletcher (@ArtFletcher9) July 3, 2026
On the other side, election advocacy groups on the left continue to downplay noncitizen voting. The Fair Elections Center labels noncitizen voting a “non-issue” and says demands for proof-of-citizenship to register are built on an “empirically false premise.” Other studies argue that noncitizen ballots are extremely rare nationwide and do not change major election outcomes. That messaging clashes sharply with the New Jersey cases, where prosecutors outline clear alleged violations of both election and immigration law and where the Trump administration’s Justice Department is now pushing hard on enforcement.
Sources:
nypost.com, whyy.org, justice.gov, fox17.com, facebook.com
