The Justice Department has filed charges against nine foreign nationals accused of casting ballots in federal elections despite lacking American citizenship. Two additional foreign nationals have already entered guilty pleas on similar charges, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
The prosecutions represent a coordinated enforcement effort spanning multiple states and involving individuals from the Philippines, Haiti, Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Mexico. The cases also include charges against a United States Postal Service employee accused of destroying approximately three hundred mail-in ballots.
These legal actions arrive as the Trump administration pursues passage of the SAVE Act in the Senate. The proposed legislation would mandate proof of citizenship as a prerequisite for voting in federal elections. The President has maintained that current safeguards prove insufficient to prevent foreign nationals from participating in American elections.
Among those who have already accepted responsibility is Bernadette Acaso, a twenty-year-old Filipino national who pleaded guilty to illegally casting a mail-in ballot in the 2024 election. According to her plea agreement, Acaso registered to vote in March 2024 and subsequently voted by mail in November, despite her status as a non-citizen. She later provided false statements about her participation when questioned by immigration officials.
In a separate Florida case, Haitian national Valery Zidor admitted to voting in the 2024 presidential election after fraudulently registering and misrepresenting his citizenship status. At the time he cast his ballot, Zidor resided in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, a designation the Trump administration has since terminated.
The newly announced charges encompass a range of violations. Christiane Vinette Young, a seventy-five-year-old Canadian national residing illegally in Florida, faces accusations of casting ballots in three separate federal elections: the 2024 general election, the 2022 general election, and the 2022 primary. Prosecutors allege she maintained illegal residency while participating in these electoral processes.
George Olawunmi Johnson, a Nigerian national and lawful permanent resident, allegedly registered to vote illegally in 2010 and cast a ballot in Kansas during the 2024 election. Court records indicate no legal counsel has yet been listed for Johnson.
Federal prosecutors also charged Danubis Bernat, a forty-nine-year-old Venezuelan national, with voting in person in New Jersey during the 2024 election. Additional charges were filed against two illegal immigrants from Mexico and Haiti residing in Pennsylvania for illegally casting ballots in recent federal elections.
The Justice Department also announced charges against Damon Matai Seei, a thirty-four-year-old Postal Service employee accused of discarding approximately three hundred mail-in ballots.
A White House spokesperson emphasized the administration’s commitment to enforcement. The official stated that the government’s message to non-citizens who vote in American elections remains unambiguous: violators will be located, arrested, and face consequences including deportation.
The coordinated prosecutions underscore what administration officials characterize as a persistent vulnerability in the electoral system. These cases, spanning multiple states and involving citizens of at least six foreign nations, provide concrete evidence of non-citizen participation in federal elections.
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