A Canadian who U.S. authorities allege is residing illegally in Florida has been charged with three counts of voter fraud for allegedly casting ballots in three U.S. federal elections, according to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) says Canadian national Christiane Vinette Young, 75, has been charged with three counts of voting by an alien after casting ballots in the 2022 and 2024 U.S. general elections, as well as the 2022 primary.
“If convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison,” the DOJ noted in a Sept. 23 release.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra posted about the case Sept. 25 on X, stating, “A reminder: only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in U.S. federal elections.”
The DOJ noted that the investigation into Young was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations with aid from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Lee County Supervisor of Elections, and said the case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Winter.
The case comes in the wake of a number of recent charges pertaining to alleged fraud in the past U.S. federal elections.
This includes seven non-citizens charged earlier this month in Texas for allegedly knowingly lying about their citizenship in participating and trying to participate in the 2024 U.S. general election. One of the suspects is a convicted felon from Mexico who had been previously deported, according to the DOJ.
Further charges against 16 individuals in seven states were announced Sept. 18 by the DOJ. The charges pertain to various election-related offences between 2008 to 2024, including false citizenship claims and unlawful voting.
Federal prosecutors also unveiled charges against four non-citizens on Sept. 24 for alleged election-related crimes in Pennsylvania pertaining to the 2022 and 2024 U.S. federal elections, including an illegal alien from Haiti, one from Mexico, a lawful resident from Trinidad and Tobago, and a lawful resident from Mexico.
None of the charges described in this article have been tested in court.
