MDOS Finds 16 Possible Noncitizen Voters In November 2024 Election

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/03/2025) After a review of the Qualified Voter File (QVF), the Michigan Department of State said 15 credible cases out of 5.7 million ballots were found of a noncitizen voting in the state, and 13 were referred for possible charges, along with one from October.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the review began in December that was able to identify the 15 possible cases, including a Chinese University of Michigan student that was case number 16. Of the 15, one person had since died, and one was still under investigation by the Office of Investigative Services.

“This is a serious issue, one we must address with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer,” Benson said. "Only U.S. citizens can legally register and vote in our elections. Our careful review confirms what we already knew – that this illegal activity is very rare.”

She said the cases represent 0.00028 percent of the total ballots cast across the state in the November 2024 Presidential election.

Benson said the fraction doesn't rise to the level of warranting laws she said would act as a blockade to legal voters.

“Instead of those failed policies, we will continue to work with lawmakers on reasonable, data-driven efforts to improve security while ensuring that eligible citizens can always make their voice heard,” she said.

The MDOS compared 7.9 million Michigan driving records to the 7.2 million active voters in the QVF to track down the 15 cases and said an ongoing review process was in place to make sure that noncitizen voter registrations were canceled.

Benson said she was working with Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) to introduce the Michigan Election Security Act, which would turn the process into law and help identify noncitizen voters.

House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) said Republicans were already working on putting the issue in front of voters with HJR B

“Yesterday it was one. Today it is 15, but the truth is we still have no idea how many voted and, furthermore, everybody now knows that the loophole exists that allows noncitizens to vote,” Posthumus said.

He said no one knew that noncitizens were on the voter rolls until the 2024 election and pointed to a 527-vote difference during the presidential election in 2000 when former President George W. Bush defeated Al Gore.

Former Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson found in 2012 that 54 noncitizens had voted 94 times and that 1,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in the state.

Johnson’s investigation found at least one Canadian voted in the 2000 election and had checked that he was not a citizen on the ballot application.

Posthumus said there was no doubt in his mind that if the constitutional amendment were placed in front of the voters in the 2026 election that it would pass.

He pointed to a recent election in Wisconsin that passed a photo identification amendment by 62.8 percent.

He said the current voter amendments passed in 2022 were what allowed the 16 noncitizens to vote during the 2024 election and that requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote and proof of identification when voting would have stopped it.

“When this makes it to the ballot it will pass,” Posthumus said.