Charges Filed Against Ten Permanent Residents for Alleged Voter Fraud in Minnesota

<p>Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on September 30, 2026, that a federal grand jury has indicted ten lawful permanent residents for allegedly voting illegally or attempting to do so in multiple Minnesota elections, including the state’s August 2026 primary.</p><p>The ten defendants, who are originally from Liberia, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Bosnia, Germany, Ghana, and Lithuania, are accused of falsely claiming to be U.S. citizens to register to vote.</p><p>According to court records, they allegedly voted in the 2022 and 2024 general elections.</p><p>"Voter fraud erodes the public's trust in our electoral system, and it's vital to our democratic process that we do everything that we can to restore that trust," Blanche stated at a news conference announcing the charges.</p><p>The ten defendants are Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, of Liberia; Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, of Lithuania; Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, of Ghana; Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48, of Liberia; Paul Kras, 78, of Germany; Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58, of Bosnia; Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62, of Brazil; Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43, of Liberia; Christian Liam Schenk, 47, of Canada; and Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69, of South Africa.</p><p>Bryant is the only defendant charged solely with falsely claiming citizenship in 2024 to register.</p><p>Making a false citizenship claim to vote is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while voting by a noncitizen is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.</p><p>Blanche expressed frustration that the media has not taken the Justice Department's work prosecuting election fraud cases seriously.</p><p>He mentioned that since President Donald Trump has returned to office, the Justice Department has charged more than 90 people with voter fraud offenses, including 50 illegal immigrants in the past five weeks.</p><p>Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated that there have been 10 voter fraud-related convictions and that there are over 1,600 active investigations into similar conduct nationwide.</p><p>Mullin did not respond to a question regarding how the department plans to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to identify potentially ineligible voters ahead of the midterms.</p><p>The Supreme Court ruled that the administration may use the database for voter-eligibility checks while litigation continues. Historically, SAVE has been used to verify whether noncitizens applying for public benefits are eligible.</p><p>States’ use of the SAVE database is voluntary, but federal law generally prohibits states from conducting systematic voter-roll purges within 90 days of a federal election. The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to have limited immediate impact with the midterms approaching.</p><p>During the same news conference, Blanche announced that the Justice Department had filed a judicial misconduct complaint with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals against several Minnesota federal judges who spoke with The New York Times about ongoing cases.</p><p>The article, published on September 17, featured Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, who claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated nearly 100 orders from the federal district court in Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge.</p><p>Schiltz stated that the alleged violation likely resulted from incompetence and staffing shortages at the Justice Department.</p><p>Blanche requested that the 8th Circuit conduct an investigation and that the judges recuse themselves from any cases involving the Department of Homeland Security due to perceived bias.</p><p>Schiltz responded that he was acting within ethical rules by speaking to The New York Times, citing an advisory opinion from the Committee on Codes of Conduct.</p>