Two foreign nationals are facing federal charges for allegedly voting unlawfully in recent elections in West Tennessee, federal officials announced.
An indictment says that Cesar Sanchez Correa, 44, a Mexican citizen, voted in Haywood County during the 2024 election. According to investigators, Sanchez Correa falsely and knowingly claimed to be a US citizen on a Tennessee voter registration application. He faces one count of illegal voting.
In a separate indictment, Andreas Van Der Werf, 62, a German citizen, is charged with voting in Fayette County in both the 2022 and 2024 elections. Officials allege that Van Der Werf falsely and knowingly enrolled as a US citizen in order to vote. He has been charged with two counts of illicit voting.
Federal law only allows US citizens to vote in elections for president, vise president, the United States Senate, or the United States House of Representatives.
“The law is clear: Only American citizens may vote in American elections,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant. “Every American citizen must be able to have their vote counted without it being stolen because of fraudulent or ineligible voters. Illegal voting is a crime and will be aggressively prosecuted by the Department of Justice to protect the integrity of the election process.”
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is a responsibility HSI takes seriously,” said Dennis M. Fetting, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville. “With our partners, we will continue to investigate alleged violations of federal election laws and support efforts to uphold the foundations of our democracy.”
Leave a Reply