DOJ charges 16 people in nine states over alleged illegal voting ahead of midterms

Right · 1The Justice Department announced on Monday (12 October 2026) the arrest of 16 people across nine states for alleged election crimes, including voting by non-citizens and fraudulent voter registration. 1 Right · 1Most of those charged are green-card holders (lawful permanent residents) accused of falsely claiming citizenship to vote, in some cases over as many as 20 years. 1 Right · 1Pennsylvania had the most arrests, with four people charged with illegally voting in the 2024 general election: Hacina Saadi, described as an illegal immigrant from France, and lawful permanent residents Jamil Ahmad, Nighat Jamil and Paulo Silva. 1

Right · 1Alabama and Ohio each had three arrests. In Ohio, Cary Ann Patterson allegedly claimed to be a U.S. citizen in 2005 when obtaining a voter registration card and voted in at least 10 elections; Arshed Zuberi and Eliza M. Moss were charged with stating falsely on registration forms that they were citizens. Moss reportedly told investigators the person who helped her fill out the form said she could vote. 1 Right · 1In Alabama, two lawful permanent residents were charged with voting without being citizens, and Forrest Scott Woody of North Carolina was charged with voting in Alabama after already voting in the same election in North Carolina. 1 Right · 1Other cases include a New Mexico man indicted for allegedly trying to cast an absentee ballot for his deceased wife in 2024, a Missouri man accused of voting in at least 15 elections over 20 years, and charges in Idaho, Kentucky, New Jersey and Hawaii. 1

Right · 1Breitbart, summarising the same announcement, said the charges covered voting on behalf of the dead, casting multiple ballots and false statements on citizenship applications, and that many of those charged were legal non-citizens while one was an illegal alien. 2 Right · 1A DOJ spokesperson told Just the News that every illegal vote cancels out a lawful citizen's vote and that the department will enforce the law whether a case involves one ballot or hundreds. Just the News notes that lawful permanent residents cannot vote in federal, state or most local elections, according to the U.S. government. 1 Right · 1Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said previously that the Biden DOJ prosecuted 13 people for election-related crimes in four years, and that the current DOJ had done more than that in a single week. Just the News reported that the DOJ has arrested over 200 people and secured indictments, and that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said DHS is investigating 1,620 noncitizen voting cases with 151 arrests. 1

Right · 1Breitbart framed the charges as part of wider administration action ahead of the midterms, citing DHS's 2026 Election Infrastructure Security Plan, a CMS nursing-home voting guidance and a DOJ plan to deploy 1,000 election monitors on Election Day. A White House spokeswoman, Lauren Bis, said President Trump is taking 'decisive action to protect our elections'. 2 Right · 1Breitbart also reported that Democrats, including Hakeem Jeffries and Patty Murray, rejected President Trump's July address on election vulnerabilities and his call to pass the SAVE America Act, with Murray saying the bill is going nowhere in the Senate. The charges are all allegations; the coverage does not report any pleas or verdicts. 2