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Politics14 outlets ran this5 min read

Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election voting

Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against six individuals, including five non-citizens who voted in the 2024 election

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election voting

What this story says

  • Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged five non-citizens with voting in the 2024 election and one U.S. citizen with registering a non-citizen spouse.
  • The charges follow 38 referrals from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office, with 22 cases still under review and 10 closed without charges.
  • All five non-citizens charged cast ballots in the 2024 election, according to Nessel’s office, while the citizen’s registration was cancelled before a vote was cast.
  • The cases include a mix of felony and misdemeanor charges, with potential prison sentences ranging from 90 days to 10 years.

Who covered it

Left 7%(1)Centre 50%(7)Right 43%(6)

Percentages are shares of the 14 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

80/100

Craft

75/100

Hype

25/100

14 sources · methodology

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office charged five non-U.S. citizens with voting in the 2024 presidential election. The charges were announced on 13 August 2026, following a review of cases referred by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office. The referrals began in 2025 and included 38 suspected instances of non-citizen voting.

Of the 38 cases, six resulted in criminal charges. Ten were closed without charges, and 22 remain under review. The five non-citizens charged are Michael Akioya, Alondra Harker, Harumi Michael, Robert Piva and Basanth Sadasivan. All five cast ballots in the 2024 election, according to Nessel’s office. A sixth individual, U.S. citizen Kimberly DiDonato, was charged with registering her non-citizen spouse to vote.

The charges include felonies and misdemeanors. Harumi Michael and Robert Piva each face multiple felony counts, including election forgery and attempting to vote while unqualified. Michael Akioya and Alondra Harker face misdemeanor charges. Basanth Sadasivan, who lives in the United Kingdom, is charged with a single felony count. DiDonato faces two felony counts related to election forgery and using a computer to commit a crime.

More than 5.7 million ballots were cast in Michigan during the 2024 election. Nessel’s office stated that non-citizen voting is rare. Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie said the cases demonstrate the system’s ability to investigate and hold individuals accountable for illegal activity.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mentioned the defence attorney’s statement for Kimberly DiDonato, which clarified that no vote was cast in her case. None of the centre-rated digests named the individuals charged or specified the penalties they face. The left-rated report was the only one to include the total number of ballots cast in Michigan in 2024.

Tags:#MichiganElection#NonCitizenVoting#ElectionIntegrity#DanaNessel#JocelynBenson

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 13 Aug 2026, 21:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

  • The Detroit Free Press, the only left-rated report printed in full, led on the charges against the five non-citizens and the U.S. citizen. It included the names of all six individuals charged, the specific charges they face, and the potential penalties. The report quoted Nessel’s statement that her office takes election crimes seriously and prosecutes them to the fullest extent of the law.
  • The report also carried the defence attorney’s statement for DiDonato, who claimed the registration was a test of the system’s security and was cancelled before a vote was cast. It noted that voter registrations for non-citizens were cancelled regardless of whether charges were filed. The report included the total number of ballots cast in Michigan in 2024 and the rarity of non-citizen voting, as stated by election officials.

Centre

7 rated outlets

  • The seven centre-rated digests all reported the charges against the five non-citizens and the U.S. citizen. They included the total number of cases referred (38), the number charged (six), and the number still under review (22). CBS News and WJBK noted that 10 cases were closed without charges.
  • The digests did not name the individuals charged or specify the penalties they face. They did not include the defence attorney’s statement for DiDonato or the total number of ballots cast in Michigan in 2024. The Macomb Daily’s digest described the charges as part of an update on “numerous voter-fraud cases,” while union-bulletin.com and The Detroit News mentioned the broader context of scrutiny of voter rolls.

Right

6 rated outlets

  • The six right-rated digests all reported the charges against the five non-citizens and the U.S. citizen. They included the total number of cases referred (38) and the number charged (six). The Gateway Pundit and RedState framed the charges as contradicting Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s assurances about clean voter rolls and secure elections.
  • The Gateway Pundit’s digest linked the charges to a previous report it published, claiming the cases involved individuals on a Department of Homeland Security “Worst of the Worst” list. The Midwesterner and RedState both mentioned Benson’s assurances about voter list integrity. None of the right-rated digests named the individuals charged, specified the penalties, or included the total number of ballots cast in Michigan in 2024.

Read it at the source

14 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

1

Centre

7

Right

6

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election…?
Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 7% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 43% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 14 rated outlets on this story, 7% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 43% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election… biased?
Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election voting is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Michigan charges five non-citizens and one citizen over 2024 election…?
14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many non-citizens were charged with voting in Michigan’s 2024 election?
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged five non-U.S. citizens with voting in the 2024 presidential election. The charges were announced on 13 August 2026, following referrals from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office.
What penalties do the charged individuals face?
The charges include felonies and misdemeanors, with potential prison sentences ranging from 90 days to 10 years. For example, election forgery carries a maximum penalty of five years, while attempting to vote while unqualified can result in up to four years.
How many cases of suspected non-citizen voting were referred to prosecutors?
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office referred 38 cases of suspected non-citizen voting to prosecutors. Of these, six resulted in charges, 10 were closed without charges, and 22 remain under review.
Did any of the charged individuals cast a ballot?
All five non-citizens charged cast ballots in the 2024 election, according to Nessel’s office. The U.S. citizen charged, Kimberly DiDonato, registered her non-citizen spouse to vote, but the registration was cancelled before a vote was cast.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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