Newark, New Jersey – Federal prosecutors in New Jersey charged four residents with voting illegally.
The US Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said in a statement on Friday that the four people were not US citizens when they registered to vote and cast ballots in the federal election, as required by federal law.
The charges against them range from illegally voting in federal elections to making false statements when applying for citizenship and illegally obtaining citizenship or naturalization.
Prosecutors say the four voted in at least one federal election from 2020 to 2024, a period that included two presidential elections and two midterm elections.
They say the defendants, after casting their ballots, then filed citizenship applications in which they falsely claimed they had never voted or registered to vote in federal elections.
US Attorney Robert Fraser said the charges reflect his office’s “commitment to protecting the integrity of our electoral system.”
Last year, the office launched a task force focusing on election-related crimes such as voter registration fraud, casting fraudulent ballots, noncitizen voting and individuals who vote multiple times in the same election.
Social media claims of widespread voter fraud rose after the 2020 election and the president continues to amplify them Donald Trump And his allies.
But current and former election officials said such fraud does occur Isolated and rare. The country’s elections are decentralized, with thousands of independent voting authorities, making it virtually impossible for widespread voter fraud that could overturn the election, officials told The Associated Press.
Fraser, a veteran prosecutor It was set in MarchIt ended a high-profile standoff between the judiciary and the Trump administration over control of the US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.
Trump’s previous picks for the job, including his former personal lawyer, Alina for lovewas excluded.