A federal grand jury in the District of Minnesota returned a two-count indictment today charging Mukeshkumar Somabhai Chaudhari, an Indian national, with knowingly making a false claim of United States citizenship in order to vote in the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.
According to the indictment, on or about Nov. 5, 2024, Chaudhari signed the voter signature certificate required by Minnesota law in order to vote in the general election. The certificate required him to swear or affirm that he was a citizen of the United States. The indictment alleges that Chaudhari was not a U.S. citizen and that he knowingly made the false citizenship statement in order to vote.
“The right to vote is a sacred privilege of American citizenship, and every lawful voter deserves an election system in which that right is protected,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department will hold accountable those who knowingly make false claims of citizenship in order to vote. The integrity of our elections depends on ensuring that only eligible citizens cast ballots and that every lawful vote is counted.”
Chaudhari is charged with one count of false information in voting, in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 21144(b), incorporating 18 U.S.C. § 1015(f), and one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to register to vote or vote, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1015(f). If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in...
In a 2017 piece in The New York Times, voting expert Ari Berman wrote, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed tactics that prevented blacks, Hispanics and other minority groups from voting. But fo...