MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors have charged 10 people with illegally voting or registering to vote in Minnesota elections, according to Department of Justice officials.

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the grand jury indictments on Wednesday from Washington. The defendants, all green card holders, are alleged to have illegally voted in elections or registered to vote, attesting that they were U.S. citizens.

“Voting in American elections is a privilege of American citizenship,” U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen said in a statement. “Stealing that privilege is a crime. When, in order to obtain a ballot, a non-citizen swears he or she is a citizen, we will prosecute.”

Of the 10 people arrested, nine are alleged to have cast a ballot in elections dating back to 2022, according to the indictments.

Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, is charged with illegally voting on Nov. 8, 2022. Seven people are charged with casting a ballot as a noncitizen in the Nov. 5, 2024 election: Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48; Paul Kras, 78; Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58; Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62; Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43; Christian Liam Schenk, 47; and Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69. Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, is charged with illegally voting as a noncitizen on Aug. 11, 2026. Voting as a noncitizen carries a penalty up to one year in prison and maximum fine of $100,000.

Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, is accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship while registering to vote. Bryant is the only defendant not explicitly accused of voting in an election. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000.

Details about the alleged voting incidents, including where they took place, were not included in the sparse federal indictments. Weihmann also faces charges in state court of two counts of knowingly casting a ballot as an ineligible voter — once in the 2024 election as detailed in her federal charges 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.

All of the defendants made their initial appearance in federal court this week. Most of the defendants have been appointed a public defender or did not have an attorney listed. Padovan’s attorney declined to comment.

The charges come amid the Trump administration’s ramping up of investigations into noncitizen voting across the U.S. ahead of midterm elections. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during the news conference that investigators are currently probing more than 1,600 cases of voter fraud with another 300,000 waiting.

Critics have described the administration’s claim of widespread noncitizen voting as overblown and lacking evidence.

In response to the charges in Minnesota, Center for Election Innovation & Research CEO David Becker said the sample represents a minuscule amount — .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.

The Minnesota’s Secretary of State’s office defended the state’s election systems while pledging to cooperate in cases of illegal voting. The office said it complied with subpoenas from officials for records in the 10 cases revealed on Wednesday while emphasizing that the charges show that 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 in a statement.

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