Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Oct 12: Three Pakistani nationals are among 16 individuals facing federal election-related charges announced by the US Justice Department on Monday, less than a month before Americans vote in crucial congressional midterm elections.
The charges relate to alleged illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration, false claims of American citizenship and other election-related offences reported across several states.
The Pakistani nationals have been identified as Jamil Ahmad, 50, Nighat Jamil, 47, and Arshed Zuberi, 69.
According to the Justice Department, Ahmad and Jamil were charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with voting in the 2024 election despite not being US citizens. Both were lawful permanent residents at the time they allegedly voted.
Zuberi, also a lawful permanent resident, was charged through a criminal complaint in the Northern District of Ohio with illegally voting in a federal election.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Zuberi registered to vote in September 2015 and August 2016, signing declarations stating that he was a US citizen. Voting records from the Ohio Cuyahoga County Board of Elections showed that he had voted in at least six elections, the department said.
The allegations against the three Pakistani nationals form part of a broader series of election-related prosecutions announced by federal authorities.
The Justice Department said the 16 cases involved allegations of non-citizens voting in federal elections, voting more than once, casting ballots on behalf of deceased individuals and unlawfully obtaining citizenship.
In New Mexico, Patrick Perea, 62, was indicted on a charge of fraudulent voting in the November 2024 general election.
In Alabama, two lawful permanent residents from Peru and Jamaica were charged with voting despite not being American citizens.
Another defendant, Forrest Scott Woody, 68, of North Carolina, was charged with voting twice in the 2024 presidential election, allegedly casting one ballot in North Carolina and another in Alabama.
In Missouri, Cuban national Andre's Garcia, 64, a lawful permanent resident, was charged with two counts of illegally voting in federal elections in 2022 and 2024. Prosecutors alleged that Garcia had falsely claimed American citizenship while registering to vote and had participated in numerous elections over two decades.
The announcement also included cases involving nationals of Canada, Britain, Portugal, Poland and the Philippines.
In Idaho, Canadian national Stanley Walton, 82, was charged with unlawfully voting in the 2022 general election. In Kentucky, another Canadian lawful permanent resident, Sandra Madeline Watson, 59, faced a charge of illegally voting in a federal election.
In New Jersey, Lizabeth Almonte Rosa, 24, a naturalised American citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was charged with voting while not a citizen and unlawfully procuring citizenship.