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The Justice Department announced on Wednesday (September 30) that 10 individuals have been charged with voter fraud in Minnesota. According to Attorney General Todd Blanche, the charges involve illegal voting in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, as well as Minnesota's primary election earlier this year. The defendants, who are foreign nationals from Brazil, Ghana, and Liberia, allegedly made false claims of U.S. citizenship to register and vote.
The federal grand jury returned indictments that include nine counts of illegal voting by a noncitizen and nine counts of falsely claiming citizenship. Blanche emphasized the importance of election integrity, stating, "Voter fraud erodes the public's trust in our electoral system." The National News Desk reported that since President Donald Trump returned to office, over 90 people have been charged with voter-related fraud offenses, including 50 noncitizens in the past five weeks.
Blanche also announced a judicial misconduct complaint against nearly all active federal district judges in Minnesota, alleging bias against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and immigration authorities. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that the department has made significant strides in tackling voter fraud, with 100 administrative arrests, 53 criminal arrests, 37 indictments, and 10 convictions related to illegal voting.
The Spectrum News highlighted that the DOJ's efforts come just weeks before the midterm elections, amid ongoing investigations into voter fraud across the nation. The DHS is currently investigating over 1,600 cases and reviewing 300,000 potential leads.
Minnesota's Secretary of State Steve Simon stated that noncitizen voting is extremely rare and affirmed the state's commitment to election integrity. He noted that these indictments represent a small fraction of the approximately 8.5 million votes cast in Minnesota over the relevant period.