DOJ Charges 10 Noncitizens in Minnesota Voter Fraud Case. The State Says That Proves How Rare It Is.

The Justice Department announced on 30 September 2026 that a federal grand jury in Minnesota had indicted ten lawful permanent residents for voter fraud. Investigators with the Department of Homeland Security say nine of the ten cast ballots in Minnesota elections between 2022 and 2026. Minnesota's own election officials responded that the indictments prove the opposite of what the administration claims: that noncitizen voting is vanishingly rare.

DOJ Charges 10 Noncitizens in Minnesota Voter Fraud Case. The State Says That Proves How Rare It Is.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - The announcement came from Washington. The rebuttal came from St. Paul. Between them sits a federal case file with ten names and a state with 8.5 million ballots cast.

What the Justice Department Announced

The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, that a federal grand jury indicted ten defendants separately on September 24, 2026, for voter fraud. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen made the announcement. All defendants have made their initial appearances in federal court. The DOJ release states the defendants illegally voted in the November 2022 and 2024 general elections and the August 2026 primary election. The cases resulted from an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph S. Teirab is prosecuting. The release carries a standard caveat: an indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The Ten Defendants and What They Are Accused Of

Each defendant is described by DOJ as a lawful permanent resident. They range in age from 43 to 78. Five are from Africa, three from Europe, one from Brazil, one from Canada. Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, a Liberian national, faces one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote, alleged on October 18, 2024. Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, a Lithuanian national, faces one count of voting by alien, alleged November 8, 2022. Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, a Ghanaian national, faces two counts of false claim of citizenship and one count of voting by alien, alleged August 11, 2026. Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48, Liberian; Paul Kras, 78, German; Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58, Bosnian; Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62, Brazilian; Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43, Liberian; Christian Liam Schenk, 47, Canadian; and Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69, South African, each face one count of false claim of citizenship and one count of voting by alien, all alleged November 5, 2024. Bryant is not alleged to have voted.

Nine Ballots and Two Misdemeanors

Blanche said the indictments include nine counts of illegal voting by a noncitizen and nine counts of making a false claim of citizenship in order to register to vote. Investigators with the Department of Homeland Security say nine of the ten defendants cast ballots. The charge of false claim of citizenship in order to vote is a violation of Section 1015(f) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, and carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a maximum term of supervised release of three years, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Voting by aliens is a violation of Section 611 of Title 18, a class A misdemeanor, carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of one year, a maximum term of supervised release of one year, and a maximum fine of $100,000. Most defendants face felony counts. Two are charged solely with misdemeanors.

What Blanche Says the Numbers Show

Blanche said the Justice Department has charged more than 90 people with voter fraud offenses since President Donald Trump returned to office, including 50 illegal immigrants in the past five weeks. Mullin said there have been 10 voter fraud-related convictions, and both men described a pipeline still in its early stages: more than 1,600 active investigations, with 300,000 the department says it will eventually reach. Blanche said his department is going through every name on the voter logs of 47 states and a handful of territories, and that DHS is running spot checks on voting machines, hand-counting a set number of ballots on each. He said the checks had turned up "some trouble with machines" but declined to characterise it. "We can't say if it was fraud or not fraud," he said. Blanche said elections today are often decided by a small number of votes. "We're just getting started," he said.

What Minnesota Says the Numbers Show

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon's office said in a statement to Spectrum News that only United States citizens are eligible to vote in Minnesota elections and that violation of that law is a felony. The office said Minnesota is widely known for outstanding voter participation, election security, and overall election administration. "These indictments affirm the fact that noncitizen voting is a vanishingly rare crime," the statement said. The office said it complied with subpoenas for records in the 10 cases while emphasizing that the charges show noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. "If these indictments result in convictions, that will amount to ten individuals over a period in which around 8.5 million votes were cast in Minnesota," the office said.

The Study the State Keeps Citing

Simon has cited a University of St. Thomas study that found only three instances of noncitizens voting in Minnesota between 2014 and 2024, out of 13.4 million ballots cast. "We want it to be zero. I do, and everyone watching does, but that is really, really good," Simon said. The nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research said the majority of allegations of noncitizen registration or voting are the result of misunderstandings, mischaracterizations or fabrications about voter data. The nonpartisan Brennan Center put the incidence of suspected noncitizen voting at .0001%. CEIR CEO David Becker said the sample represents .0003% of active registered voters in Minnesota based on data from the last federal general election. "As the clock ticks down to Election Day, every rushed statement from the administration confirms what we've long known: noncitizen voting is infinitesimally rare and already well-prevented by the states," Becker said.

Five Weeks Before the Midterms

Wednesday's announcement comes less than five weeks before November's midterm elections, with tight races in key battleground states that could end Republican control of the House and Senate. Trump has long refused to accept his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, falsely claiming it was rigged. He has also said the only way Democrats can win in November is if they cheat. Blanche said voter fraud erodes the public's trust in the electoral system. "The most basic way the Department of Justice can accomplish this restoration of trust is by working to make sure the only people voting in an election in the United States are American citizens who are eligible to vote," he said. Rosen said: "If you're not a citizen, don't try to vote. We will prosecute you."

The SAVE Act Hanging Over All of It

The announcement comes as Trump continues to call on the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, which requires voters to provide proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID when they cast a ballot. The SAVE Act had passed the House and the Senate had begun debate. Trump called it his number one priority and said it would prevent noncitizens from voting in the 2026 midterm elections. Simon said the documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement would keep eligible voters from the polls, pointing to cost and accessibility barriers. "The U.S. government estimates 146 million Americans do not have a passport," Simon said. "Close to 70 million women do not have a birth certificate with their current name because they changed their name when they got married." A Harris poll from February found 71% of those surveyed supported the SAVE Act. The bill would require 60 votes to pass the Senate under current rules; Trump is urging Republicans to change the filibuster rule to require a simple majority.

The August Primary and the Stunt That Preceded It

FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported that Minnesota state officials said authorities were reviewing an "outrageous and totally unacceptable" stunt by a conservative influencer, Cam Higby, who impersonated other voters at Minneapolis polling sites on the August 11, 2026 primary day while wearing an Islamic niqab, as part of an attempt to show how easy it was to commit voter fraud in the state. Simon said members of a widely discredited Florida-based political group visited several polling places in Minneapolis impersonating Minnesota voters, used concealed cameras to record their interactions with poll workers, and released a heavily edited video. "Poll workers immediately reported these visits to local election officials and law enforcement is reviewing the situation," Simon said. "We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking, and disruptions at our polling places," Simon said. "Voters deserve better, as do the tens of thousands of our neighbors and friends who serve as poll workers." Minnesota's same-day registration rule allows every registered voter to vouch for up to eight other people who lack identification.

What Happens Next

The defendants were released after making their initial court appearances at separate hearings on Wednesday. Six of the ten have entered not guilty pleas. Most of the defendants have been appointed a public defender or did not have an attorney listed. Padovan's attorney declined to comment. Schenk made his initial appearance in the District of Massachusetts on September 30, 2026. Weihmann also faces charges in state court of two counts of knowingly casting a ballot as an ineligible voter, once in the 2024 election and another in the November 2022 election. Investigators said she signed a form last year to inactivate her voter record once she was told she was ineligible to vote. She is scheduled to plead guilty on Oct. 7. Details about the alleged voting incidents, including where they took place, were not included in the sparse federal indictments.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, Fox News, MPR News, Star Tribune, Spectrum News, CBS News Minnesota and FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul.