The prosecutions emerged from dozens of cases sent to Nessel’s office by the Michigan Department of State following the November 2024 election.
State officials referred 16 suspected cases during 2025. Another 22 referrals arrived in 2026 involving alleged noncitizen voting or related activity stretching from 2009 through 2025.
That brought the total number of referrals under examination to 38.
So far, six cases have produced criminal charges, while ten were closed without prosecution. Another 22 remain under investigation.
Michigan officials also canceled the voter registrations connected to every noncitizen identified during the review, regardless of whether criminal charges were ultimately filed.
The five noncitizens charged include individuals with varying immigration statuses, including lawful permanent residents, a limited-term resident and a United Kingdom resident. None were U.S. citizens when the alleged election activity occurred.
Prosecutors have brought an assortment of charges that include allegedly making false statements on absentee-ballot documents, fraudulent voter registration, election-law forgery, perjury and attempting to vote while legally unqualified.
Depending on the specific offense, convictions could bring penalties ranging from months behind bars to several years in prison.
Nessel said her office would continue pursuing election-law violations while describing confirmed cases of noncitizen voting as uncommon.
“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,” Attorney General 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.”
The cases could renew debate over how election officials verify citizenship before individuals are added to voter rolls.
According to Nessel’s office, investigators encountered complications in some referrals because state authorities do not always have straightforward access to federal citizenship information.
The investigation also demonstrated that a referral does not necessarily mean illegal voting occurred.
Among the cases that were closed, investigators determined that two people initially flagged as potential noncitizens were actually American citizens.
Another individual was presumed to be a citizen after investigators examined an early international adoption complicated by incomplete documentation.
Officials also reviewed the case of a federally recognized American Indian who was born in Canada. Investigators determined that individual did not possess U.S. citizenship or voting eligibility.
The five noncitizens now facing charges are alleged to have actually cast ballots in the November 2024 election.
More than 5.7 million ballots were cast statewide, meaning the five alleged votes represent a tiny fraction of Michigan’s overall turnout.
But the raw number is unlikely to end the broader argument over election safeguards.
For election-integrity advocates, even a small number of illegal ballots raises a fundamental question: How were people who were legally prohibited from voting able to get far enough through the system to allegedly cast ballots in the first place?
The referrals also show that Michigan officials are still examining potential cases well after Election Day.
With 22 of the 38 referred cases still under review, the investigation is far from finished.
Nessel’s announcement therefore cuts in two directions politically.
Her office emphasizes that noncitizen voting is rare and says the prosecutions demonstrate that authorities can identify and punish election crimes.
Critics of existing election procedures, meanwhile, are likely to point to the charges as evidence that citizenship verification deserves greater attention before a ballot is accepted rather than after an election has already concluded.
Either way, the defendants will now face the allegations in court, where prosecutors will have to prove their cases.
And with nearly two dozen additional referrals still being examined, Michigan’s investigation into alleged noncitizen election activity isn’t over yet.
