Chinese student to face criminal charges for voting in Michigan. Ballot will apparently count

[MichMan]

A University of Michigan student who is from China and not a U.S. citizen allegedly voted early Sunday in Ann Arbor and is being charged with two crimes, six days before a pivotal presidential election.

The 19-year-old individual from China was legally present in the United States but not a citizen, which meant he couldn't legally cast a ballot, according to information from the Michigan Secretary of State's office. He registered to vote on Sunday, he signed a document identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and his ballot was entered into a tabulator, according to the Secretary of State's office.

Later, the UM student voter contacted the local clerk's office, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back, according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office.

It appears that the student's ballot might count in the upcoming election — although it was illegally cast — because there is no way for election officials to retrieve it once it's been put through a tabulator. The setup is meant to prevent ballots from being tracked back to an individual voter.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/30/chinese-university-of-michigan-college-student-voted-presidential-election-michigan-china-benson/75936701007/

[bullimiami]

1. What kind of idiocy didn't set this aside as provisional?

You need verified id to register to vote. Not just a checkbox.

[TwilightZone]

6. How would they have even known?

He registered to vote, which means he had to provide an ID. You don't have to be a citizen to get an ID.

He signed a document indicating that he was a citizen.

They don't check citizenship when you vote, so how would they have known to set it aside? It was only discovered when he tried to get the ballot back.

[MichMan]

8. Makes me wonder if they would have ever known if he hadn't asked to get it back ?

[bullimiami]

21. No they need to check citizenship when they register.

It’s not the honor system.

[Think. Again.]

2. So people don't have to prove citizenship to register to vote?

Then what's the purpose of registering in the first place?

If we don't have to go through the process of proving we are eligible to vote by registering before we vote, why don't we just skip registering and just vote without a registration?

[TwilightZone]

9. The point of registering is to prove your identity and eligibility to vote, not your citizenship.

In Michigan, you also have to sign a document that says you're a citizen. The student signed said form claiming he was a citizen, and he obviously isn't.

They probably don't check everyone because instances of fraud of this type are extraordinarily rare.

[Think. Again.]

12. But citizenship is one part of eligibility?

[TwilightZone]

14. Yes, one must be a citizen to vote.

https://www.usa.gov/who-can-vote

[Think. Again.]

15. So if the purpose of registration is to prove eligibility...

...then why aren't we proving citizenship during registration?

Without citizenship, there is no eligibility.

[TwilightZone]

18. Because it happens exceedingly rarely.

It would be a waste of time and resources to check citizenship status for every single voter because instances of this type of fraud are vanishingly rare.

When Michigan was debating adding the citizenship question to the voter registration process in 2012, the SoS reported that they had found exactly two cases, two people from Canada who had registered as citizens.

[Think. Again.]

28. Then why do we register? Why not just vote without pre-registering to vote?

[drray23]

26. We definitely are in some states.

In my state of Virginia I did have to present my naturalization certificate to register the first time.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

29. Proving citizenship can be a burden, time-consuming, costly

Not all of us can quickly lay our hands on our passport or our birth certificate. This would be enough to discourage people from registering and voting. I think Repubs would gladly add this requirement.

[Think. Again.]

31. I understand that, and agree, but then why do we pre-register?

[bullimiami]

22. ...

[RockRaven]

3. This anecdote will be used by Repugs to justify not certifying various states...

[TwilightZone]

11. Eh, no one would take them seriously.

They whine even when there is no fraud, so one instance won't matter.

[Think. Again.]

13. That's why they are planting so many different instances in so many different places.

[TwilightZone]

16. I doubt this was a plant.

He's facing significant prison time, and one instance would prove nothing. As I noted before, instances of this type of fraud are extraordinarily rare, probably because the penalties can be quite severe.

The person is being charged with perjury — making a false statement on an affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration — and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote. The latter allegation is a felony punishable by up to four years behind bars and a fine of up to $2,000, according to Michigan law. The standard penalty for perjury in Michigan is 15 years in prison, but it's unclear what it would be in this case involving lying on an application to vote.

[Think. Again.]

17. Maybe not, but it sure will help the rightwing argue their challenges.

[TwilightZone]

19. No, it won't. One fraudulent voter is irrelevant.

So, because we're all worried what the GOP might do, we should make the voting process even more complicated, cumbersome, and time-coming for something that's a one-in-eight-million circumstance? That's ridiculous.

Maybe we should just stop giving a shit what the GOP might do.

[Think. Again.]

20. Which is why I mentioned the multiple efforts to plant stuff for challenges.

Look, please don't be mad at me, I'm a Democratic voter, not a rightwing goper trying to screw with the election.

And yes, after what they already did on January 6 2021, I do give a shit about what the gop will be trying to do this time.

[tulipsandroses]

4. Ok my tin foil hat is calling me. Why does this feel like a stunt to prove a point?

Why do it in the first place? Then call attention to yourself?

[MichMan]

7. Doubt someone would risk years in jail for a stunt

The person is being charged with perjury — making a false statement on an affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration — and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote. The latter allegation is a felony punishable by up to four years behind bars and a fine of up to $2,000, according to Michigan law. The standard penalty for perjury in Michigan is 15 years in prison, but it's unclear what it would be in this case involving lying on an application to vote.

[tulipsandroses]

25. Well there's that guy that stole the ballots and then claimed the machine made an error counting

I also remember talk a few years ago about Chinese spies infiltrating universities. Maybe I'm just paranoid about this stuff.

[MichMan]

27. Don't forget about space aliens

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. Risking years in jail, and deportation after that.

If nothing else, it's evidence that this person is not a spy. A spy would not be so stupid, right?

[MichMan]

5. Wonder if they would have caught it had he not called them first? n/t

Either way, the illegal vote still counts

[TwilightZone]

10. Sounds like they would not have.

They probably don't check citizenship for everyone because instances of fraud of this type are extraordinarily rare, probably because the penalties can be severe.

[MichMan]

23. If they aren't checking for citizenship, how can they prove how rare it really is? n/t

Or do they typically check most everyone but decided not to check this individual? Ann Arbor is hardly East Podunk

[TwilightZone]

24. They do periodic reviews.

When they were debating adding the citizenship pledge to the process, the SoS noted that an initial review found two non-citizens registered to vote, a pair from Canada.

A review of around 60,000 found 45 non-citizens who'd voted. It was claimed that there could be as many as 4,000 non-citizens registered to vote in the entire state by proponents of adding the pledge, though the number who actually tried to vote would be a fraction of that.. Michigan has 8.4 million registered voters.

The pledge is pointless. Citizenship was already a requirement and is noted as a requirement in every state. Adding the pledge was just a GOP stunt and another excuse to baselessly claim that the process isn't secure.