That thing that never happens happened again. The U.S. Department of Justice announced today the indictments of ten non-citizens who somehow voted in the 2024 election in Minnesota. Secretary of State Steve Simon has repeatedly assured Minnesotans that combining drivers’ licenses for all with automatic voter registration would not lead to illegal voting. Simon testified in the Minnesota Legislature and to the U.S. House of Representatives that non-citizens won’t vote in Minnesota because of the deterrent effect of a felony conviction and instant deportation. He also assured us their computer systems will ferret out anyone who is not eligible to vote before it gets dangerous.
Simon told Congress earlier this year:
“We have a back end AVR automatic voter registration system and the only folks who are eligible to even be in the pile to be considered to be registered to vote are those who produce citizenship affirming documentation at the time they apply for that ID.”
But these indictments were entirely predictable when Minnesota combined drivers’ licenses for illegals with automatic voter registration. We’re not talking about widespread voter fraud here, although how would we know? Today’s indictments highlight obvious vulnerabilities in the system Simon and his allies in the legislature have set up with the intention of making voting “easy” for everyone. Too easy.
Simon was also asked at this congressional hearing about Minnesota’s biggest election vulnerability:
Questioner: So, if you find out that they weren’t registered voters, their vote still counts.
Simon: Theoretically, that would be the case.
Questioner: Do you not see that that’s a potential problem?
Simon: Well, I think it’s a balance in that vouching is only for residency.
Therein lies the problem. Even if we catch every non-citizen who votes illegally, THEIR VOTE STILL COUNTS!
Provisional ballots
When Simon was asked if Minnesota has provisional ballots, he gave a slippery answer. He said, “No, because we’re NVRA exempt, we don’t do provisional ballots in Minnesota.” He’s referring to Minnesota’s exemption from the National Voting Rights Act of 1993. It’s more a grandfathering than an exemption. The NVRA does not allow a voting scheme like Minnesota’s with no photo ID, same day voter registration and the lack of a provisional ballot. But our NVRA exemption does not prevent us from enacting provisional ballots like Simon tries to imply in his answer. Minnesota remans the only state in the U.S. with same day registration and no provisional ballots. It should be at the top of the election reform agenda for the next Minnesota legislature and governor.
Finally, Simon was asked, “What steps has Minnesota taken to minimize opportunities for illegal voting by non-citizens? His answer is laughable in light of today’s indictments.
“We are very proud of the processes that we have in place for filtering and screening and vetting non-citizens and anyone who’s eligible to vote. I think we all share that goal. So, as I said in my introductory remarks, this is a perpetual process. This isn’t something that we just do once a year or even once a month. Depending on the data set, it is sometimes daily that we are vetting and screening for exactly this kind of thing. So, we’re proud of that system and I think it’s withstood the test of time.”
Steve Simon continues to be the top cheerleader for Minnesota’s voting system instead of performing his constitutional duty to administer a free and fair election, where only U.S. citizens get to vote.
Details on the accused, who were arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), per the Department of Justice:
Liberian national Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote. She is alleged to have falsely claimed United States citizenship when registering to vote on October 18, 2024.
Lithuanian national Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of voting by alien. She is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota on November 8, 2022.
Ghanaian national Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on two counts of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota on August 11, 2026, and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on October 23, 2024 and August 11, 2026.
Liberian national, Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.
German national Paul Kras, 78, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota on November 5, 2024.
Bosnian national Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.
Brazilian national Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.
Liberian national Chis Adam Pettiquoi, 43, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.
Canadian national Christian Liam Schenk, 47, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. He is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.
South African national Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69, a lawful permanent resident has been charged on one count of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by alien. She is alleged to have voted illegally as an alien in Minnesota and falsely claimed United States citizenship in order to vote on November 5, 2024.