A joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI has led to the arrest of a Senegalese legal permanent resident accused of illegally voting in multiple New Jersey elections, the Department of Homeland Security said.
On September 17, HSI New Jersey and FBI New Jersey jointly executed a federal criminal arrest warrant for Sanata Coulibaly, a Lawful Permanent Resident from Senegal, for procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and voting by an alien. Evidence gathered by HSI indicates Coulibaly illegally voted in the 2018, 2020, and 2024 general elections, and she admitted that she voted in 2020 and 2024.
"This alien from Senegal has been charged with procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and voting by an alien after allegedly voting in THREE general elections in New Jersey," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "Sanctuary politicians can try to claim that this kind of voter fraud isn't happening, but it's very real and is a serious threat to our country. Non-citizens have no right to vote in our elections. The Trump Administration will always protect the integrity of our election systems so that only American citizens are electing American leaders."
Coulibaly first entered the United States in September 1993 and was granted LPR status in November 2009 by the Obama Administration. In June, Secretary Mullin sent a letter to New Jersey Secretary of State Dale Caldwell, as well as the secretaries of state of California, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, warning of the dangers of non-citizens on their voter rolls.
Through preliminary reviews of the state's records, DHS found that there may be as many as 35,152 non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill has since admitted that approximately 6,600 non-citizens were registered to vote in the state.