A noncitizen was charged this week with illegally voting in the 2024 election in Minnesota.
According to the charges in Fillmore County, voter records indicate that Mukeshkumar Somabhai Chaudhari registered to vote and voted in Spring Valley, Minn., during the 2024 election.
The charges say he registered to vote on March 12, 2023, and was added to the voter rolls on March 27 that year.
During an interview with police, Chaudhari initially denied casting a ballot but eventually admitted that he was not a U.S. citizen and confirmed that he voted.
Chaudhari said he “received a notice from the state of Minnesota for voter registration, so he filled it out,” according to the charges.
He told law enforcement that he found out he shouldn’t have voted when his lawyer notified him during the green card process.
As the charging document notes, the voter registration document signed by Chaudhari states: “I swear or affirm that I am at least 18 years of age and a citizen of the United States.”
Chaudhari has been charged with one count of felony perjury and one felony voting violation charge.
Republican Minnesota Rep. Pam Altendorf highlighted Chaudhari’s case on social media, noting that Minnesota Democrats “loosened election laws” and allowed noncitizens to obtain state driver’s licenses.
In 2023, Democrats in Minnesota passed an “automatic voter registration” law which allows people to register to vote when they apply for, or update, their driver’s license. That same year, Democrats also passed a law which allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office says on its website that under automatic voter registration, “only individuals who present citizenship documentation, such as a U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport, will be registered to vote.”
Last month, a head election judge in Badoura Township, Minn., pleaded guilty to a felony charge after he accepted ballots from 11 unregistered voters in the 2024 election.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
