Minnesota noncitizen voting charges: 10 people indicted by DOJ

The latest round of charges

The U.S. Department of Justice just dropped indictments against 10 more individuals in Minnesota for alleged noncitizen voting. The move, announced Wednesday by Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, marks the sixth time this month that the administration has filed similar charges across the country.

The people named in the Minnesota case are all lawful permanent residents. They are accused of either lying about their citizenship status to cast a ballot or voting when they were not eligible in the 2022 or 2024 general elections and the 2026 primaries. According to reports, at least three of the defendants have already pleaded not guilty.

Shifting the narrative

Real talk: this is part of a much larger strategy. The administration is highkey pushing to make voter fraud a major talking point ahead of the midterms. Attorney General Blanche told reporters, “Elections today are often decided by a small number of votes and that’s why these investigations and prosecutions matter.”

It’s giving a major push for stricter rules, with the President calling for a federal database of eligible citizens and demanding proof of citizenship at the polls. Secretary Mullin even claimed, without evidence, that there have been issues with voting machines, adding, “Can’t say that it was fraud or not fraud.”

The reality check

Experts have been saying for a minute that this isn’t a widespread problem. Data from the Bipartisan Policy Center shows that only 0.04% of voter verification cases return as noncitizen. Even the Heritage Foundation, which usually backs these administration initiatives, has only identified 100 cases of noncitizen voting out of 1.3 billion votes cast since 1982. Often, when these things do happen, it’s just an administrative error, not a malicious plot.

Why it matters

This is a massive L for public confidence in the electoral process. By constantly bringing up these unverified claims, the administration is keeping the idea that our elections are rigged rent-free in voters' heads, despite researchers pointing out that these "sweeping allegations" are usually based on misunderstandings or straight-up fabrications.