# Justice Department announces election-crime charges against 16 lawful permanent residents

Date: 2026

On 5 October 2026, the U.S. Justice Department announced federal charges involving 16 lawful permanent residents accused of election crimes. According to DOJ, two defendants were in Florida, three in Louisiana, one in Wisconsin and ten in Minnesota. Fifteen cases concerned alleged voting in the 2024 federal election and one concerned alleged voting in 2022. The charges were accusations, not convictions, and each defendant retained the usual criminal-procedure protections.

The announcement became politically significant because it arrived weeks before the 3 November midterm election and amid a wider administration campaign emphasizing noncitizen voting. The Washington Times reported that DOJ had brought more such cases since September than the 13 it said were brought during the four years of the [Biden](/people/env-person-joe-biden) administration. The Washington Times count compares prosecutions rather than measuring how common unlawful voting is nationwide. Prosecutors brought the individual cases; no cited source says [Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump) personally ordered them.

## Sources

- https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/oct/5/justice-department-announces-new-noncitizen-voting-cases/
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-involving-16-aliens-election-crimes

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/us-doj-announces-charges-16-noncitizens-election-crimes-2026-10-05