An international student at the University of Michigan is being charged with two crimes after allegedly voting in the election despite not being a U.S. citizen.
The 19-year-old student from China is legally present in the United States on a student visa but still is not a citizen, which means he cannot legally cast a ballot. However, while the ballot was cast illegally, it is expected to count in the election.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, the student registered to vote on Sunday using his student ID and other documentation establishing residency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also signed a document identifying himself as a U.S. citizen.
His ballot was entered into a tabulator.
He then later contacted the local clerk’s office, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back. The ballot will still be cast, however, because there is no way for election officials to retrieve it once it’s been put through a tabulator. This is in order to prevent filled-out ballots from being tracked back to an individual voter.
Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit released a joint statement saying they were “grateful for the swift action of the clerk in this case, who took the appropriate steps and referred the case to law enforcement.”
“Anyone who attempts to vote illegally faces significant consequences, including but not limited to arrest and prosecution,” Benson and Savit stated.
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The person is being charged with perjury for allegedly making a false statement on an affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The standard penalty for perjury in Michigan is 15 years in prison.