DOJ announces charges against another 63 individuals for election-related crimes on eve of midterms

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Nov. 2, one day before the midterm elections, that it had charged 63 people across 15 states with election-related crimes, including illegal voting by non-citizens, fraudulent voter registration, and false claims of U.S. citizenship. 

“Today’s announcement marks the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since President Trump returned to office,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a Nov. 2 DOJ press release. “These foreign nationals allegedly took advantage of the trust of the American people and flouted the laws that govern our nation’s elections.”

According to the release, over the past nine weeks, the DOJ has charged 195 non-citizens across 25 states with illegal voting and registration offenses, bringing the total number of people charged with voting fraud-related offenses since the administration began to 239.

>> DOJ ramps up non-citizen voting prosecutions <<

The latest cases involve defendants in Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York, Utah, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, California, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. North Carolina accounted for the largest share of defendants, with 18, followed by California with 12, Tennessee with seven, and Texas and Pennsylvania with five each.

The allegations include illegal voting dating back more than two decades, false citizenship claims to register or vote, and false statements on naturalization applications. 

>> States may have registered more than 30,000 self-identified non-citizens since 2000, Reuters reports <<

In one case cited by the DOJ, Elizabeth Margaret Crudup, a 52-year-old Kenyan national and lawful permanent resident who is not a U.S. citizen, allegedly voted in nine general elections between 2008 and 2024 and nine primaries between 2008 and 2026. She faces charges of falsely claiming citizenship to vote and voting as a non-citizen.

Another defendant, Gregory Eugene Wade, a 64-year-old Bermudan national and lawful permanent resident, allegedly voted in 12 general elections and two primaries between 2000 and 2024 despite not being a U.S. citizen.

In Texas, Ali Khan, a 33-year-old Trinidad and Tobago national whom the DOJ identified as an illegal immigrant, allegedly voted in the 2024 election.

The charges come as the Trump administration steps up its efforts to identify non-citizens on voter rolls nationwide. Blanche vowed in the DOJ release that the department would continue “investigating and prosecuting voter fraud to restore confidence in our electoral system.”

>> ANALYSIS | How non-citizen voting could shape the midterm elections <<