Ballot allegedly cast by Chinese non-U.S. citizen in Ann Arbor likely to count

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - State election officials say a non-U.S. citizen in Ann Arbor cast a ballot last weekend in early voting.

Sources identified the suspect as a Michigan student from China, authorized to study in the United States but not to vote, because he is not a citizen.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit confirmed the noncitizen voter was charged with unauthorized elector attempting to vote and perjury – making a false affidavit for purpose of securing voter registration.

The student's name has not been released. Officials say he voted at an Ann Arbor early voting site Sunday.

Sources say the student used his university ID among other documents to register to vote and identified himself as a U.S. citizen by signing a document.

The ballot was entered in the machine for tabulation.

"The way they process the ballots after they're dropped for early voting. I have confidence that they would be able to filter that out," said a student.

FOX 2 is told the student reached out to the clerk’s office to get the ballot back, possibly alerting election workers in the process.

What’s more, officials say the ballot will most likely count because ballots cannot be taken back once processed in the tabulator.

"The fact that they can still count is really concerning," said the student.

"I think that this is just another example of why the RNC spent so much time and resources communicating with Secretary Benson that they need to clean up the voter rolls," said Bill McGinley, Trump Campaign attorney for election integrity.

Former President Donald Trump's campaign checked in with a lot to say.

"I think Secretary Benson should be requesting access to the federal databases that actually have whether people are citizens or not both of DHS and other places."

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is also reacting.

"I can’t comment on the specifics of this piece before I know a little bit more but when you look at this campaign, voter protection, election integrity or top priority, making sure every eligible American is able to vote is a priority," said Kevin Munoz, Harris campaign spokesman.

Secretary Benson says released a joint statement with Washtenaw County's Prosecutor:

"Noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event. Investigations in multiple states and nationwide have found no evidence of large numbers of noncitizens registering to vote. Even less common is a noncitizen actually casting a ballot.

"When it does happen, we take it extremely seriously. Our elections are secure and Michigan’s state and local election officials carefully follow the law."

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's Office said it is aware of this voting fraud allegation and that they are opening their own investigation.