PHILADELPHIA / HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Nine Pennsylvania residents have been charged separately with illegally voting despite knowing they were not U.S. citizens, the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, David Metcalf and Brian Miller, announced on October 23. Under federal and Pennsylvania law, only U.S. citizens may vote in Pennsylvania, and the cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
In the Eastern District, Artur Kopacz, 50, of Philadelphia, a Polish citizen and lawful permanent resident, was charged by information with two counts of voting by an alien, for allegedly voting in both the 2022 and 2024 general elections, and faces up to two years in prison if convicted. Osmal Loy, 70, of Fountain Hill, a Cuban citizen; Yehuda Peer, 30, of Merion Station, an Israeli citizen; and Alfredo Santiesteban, 73, of Philadelphia, a Cuban citizen, were each charged with one count for allegedly voting in 2024, the Justice Department said. Santiesteban's immigration status was not stated in the release.
In the Middle District, Inna Henry, 52, of Harrisburg, a Russian citizen and lawful permanent resident, was charged with two counts for allegedly voting in 2022 and 2024. Joyce Donovan, 38, and Nina Nyawara, 21, both of Selinsgrove and Kenyan citizens; Joyce Pitts, 80, of Effort, a Dutch citizen; and Nourten Kuruju, 64, of Luzerne, a Greek citizen, were each charged with one count — Kuruju for 2022 and the others for 2024 — according to the department. Each single count carries up to one year in prison, a fine, or both, if convicted.
“Upholding the integrity of our elections, and the right of American citizens to determine the outcome, is non-negotiable,” U.S. Attorney Metcalf said. U.S. Attorney Miller said illegal voting “undermines the integrity of our elections,” and HSI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Nathan Abel said illegally casting a ballot “corrupts the electoral process.” The charges are allegations and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Votebeat and Spotlight PA reported that the nine cases bring to 20 the number of people charged in Pennsylvania since September with noncitizen-voting-related crimes, and found no evidence linking the cases to one another or pointing to fraud on a broad or organised scale. Their analysis found 176 allegedly fraudulent ballots out of more than 67 million votes cast in Pennsylvania since mid-2015, even counting these unproven charges. Kopacz's attorney, Chuck Peruto, told Votebeat his client had lived in the U.S. since age 17, had passed the citizenship test twice, and voted while waiting to become a citizen because he believed he was eligible. For Punjabi and other immigrant readers in Pennsylvania, the cases are a reminder that a green card does not carry voting rights, and that unlawful voting can also put a permanent resident's immigration status at risk.