Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged five noncitizens with illegally voting in the 2024 election.
“In my office, we’ve always taken election crimes seriously, and prosecute attacks on our voting systems to the fullest extent of the law. We’re upholding election integrity by investigating all claims of non-citizen voters, as rare as they are, and holding bad actors accountable when they refuse to abide by the laws that keep our elections safe and secure,” Nessel said in a statement. “These charges reflect the severity of the allegations, the sanctity of our democracy, and the tremendous consequences of voting illegally— whether that’s done to try and “test” security measures or to make an unlawful vote count.”
According to a report from WILX 10, the five individuals include Michael Akioya, who made a false statement on an absent voter ballot application; Kimberley DiDonato, who now facing charges of election forgery; Alondra Harker, who has been charged with fraudulent registration; Harumi Michael, who faces two counts of election law forgery, attempting to vote as an unqualified elector, and making a false statement; Robert Piva, who now faces charges of election law perjury and attempting to vote as an unqualified elector, as well as fraudulent registration; and Basanth Sadasivian, who faces one count of attempting to vote as an unqualified elector.
Michigans actions against the noncitizens follows the Department of Justice warning election officials across the country that the District of Columbia that they may face criminal prosecution over noncitizen voting.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote in the letters, “Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s [voter list] or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability.”
