MADISON - A man living in Beloit illegally faces criminal charges for allegedly voting in Wisconsin's 2022 midterm election.
Jesus Javier Jurado Garcia, 25, was charged by federal prosecutors on Sept. 2 for casting a ballot in the November 2022 election for the purpose of electing candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. He faces up to one year in prison if convicted.
The prosecution of Garcia and four others across the country was announced by U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche and Federal Bureau of Investigation director Kash Patel on Friday, just three days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it was stepping up efforts to target noncitizen voting.
It's unclear whether Garcia's prosecution is a direct result of that effort. A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to questions.
"DHS is laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens," a DHS spokesperson told the Journal Sentinel in a statement on Sept. 1.
A source at the Wisconsin Elections Commission told the Journal Sentinel at the time that the agency believed the effort has to do with voting by noncitizens and is not aimed at any election official. The source said the commission has cooperated with DHS requests over the last several weeks.
"Protecting the integrity of federal elections is a fundamental responsibility of the U.S. Attorney's Office," U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin Chadwick Elgersma said in a statement.
"The charge against this defendant reflects our commitment to enforcing the law and ensuring that every vote cast complies fully with federal requirements. No one is above these obligations, and my office will continue to pursue cases where unlawful voting occurs."
A spokeswoman for Elgersma did not immediately respond to requests for the criminal complaint associated with Garcia's prosecution.
Voting by noncitizens is rare. In the most-recent report on voter fraud compiled by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, one noncitizen was caught voting in two separate elections in 2020 and 2022 before Garcia's arrest.
Molly Beck can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man living in Beloit faces federal charge of noncitizen voting