The Justice Department announced charges against 63 people for alleged election-related crimes Monday, on the eve of Election Day.
The announcement covers cases across the country, including allegations involving ballots cast in previous elections. DOJ says it has charged 195 noncitizens across 25 states in the past nine weeks and 239 people with voting fraud-related offenses since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Attorney General Todd Blanche called it “the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since President Trump returned to office.” He added:
“These foreign nationals allegedly took advantage of the trust of the American people and flouted the laws that govern our nation’s elections. This Department of Justice will continue investigating and prosecuting voter fraud to restore confidence in our electoral system.”
Benito Covarrubias Iniguez appeared in federal court in Georgia on Monday after his arrest that morning. The Mexican national is charged with falsely claiming citizenship to vote. Investigators say he got a passport under an American’s identity, used fraudulent documents to obtain a Georgia driver’s license and register to vote, and cast a ballot on Nov. 5, 2024. The American whose identity he allegedly used was born in Puerto Rico.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said:
“Votes of non-citizens impersonating Americans undermine the integrity of our cherished democratic process and diminish public confidence in our election results. This case and the many others brought in this district and around the country reinforce that non-citizens who vote in federal elections will be found, arrested, and prosecuted.”
Nearly all of the named defendants are lawful permanent residents, and DOJ describes only four of the 63 as illegal aliens. Lawful permanent residency does not confer citizenship or the right to vote in federal elections.
One case out of Utah involves an alleged vote in the 2024 presidential election. The accused, a Samoan national, was arrested in Alaska last week. At Friday’s hearing, the defendant denied the allegation and was released after being assigned a public defender.
The six California defendants face charges of making false statements on naturalization applications. All are green card holders. Prosecutors allege that, after registering or voting unlawfully, they denied ever registering when applying for naturalization. The alleged voting appears in the complaints, but these six are being prosecuted for the statements on their applications.
The defendants have not been found guilty, but the cases involve specific allegations of unlawful voting and false claims of citizenship, not just hypothetical concerns. Utah’s May audit found 99.72 percent of registered voters were verifiable citizens. It flagged about 27 alleged noncitizens and 25 possible noncitizens; approximately 13 people in those groups had cast ballots. Experts quoted by The Guardian called the timing extraordinary, but there is nothing extraordinary about protecting the right to vote. The DOJ release lists alleged votes dating back to 2000, along with some votes in 2026 primaries.
Intent will matter. Reports will, and have, said that defendants were probably confused or faced language barriers, while leftist “experts” will drone on about how noncitizen registration is often due to confusion. Prosecutors must prove each charge’s elements, including any required knowledge or intent.
That is why the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot in person, deserves a vote in the Senate. Several defendants allegedly checked a "citizen" box or claimed citizenship on forms, the kind of claim a documentation requirement is meant to catch. By the time investigators are reconstructing how someone voted two years ago, the opportunity to prevent that vote has passed.
DOJ has brought the cases. Now it needs to prove them.
Editor’s Note: Republicans are fighting for election integrity by requiring proper identification to vote. It's common sense, yet Democrats are spreading lies about the impact of such a measure.
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