NEWARK, N.J. – Mercedes Alexandra Cardoso was not a United States citizen when she went online and registered to vote in New Jersey, federal prosecutors allege. She had entered the country from Ecuador on a B-2 tourist visa.
The 41-year-old Union County woman allegedly checked off something she was not: a U.S. citizen. Her registration went through. Then, in June 2024, prosecutors say Cardoso did something federal law reserves for American citizens — she voted.
Cardoso’s prosecution lands in the middle of a much broader problem New Jersey acknowledged this summer. Roughly 6,600 people who told the state they were not citizens were nevertheless registered to vote because of a Motor Vehicle Commission software failure. A preliminary state review found fewer than 400 of those people voted.
Those are two different failures in the same election system. In Cardoso’s case, prosecutors allege a voter lied about citizenship. In the MVC cases, the state says people correctly answered that they were not citizens and the computer registered them anyway.
Over 200 people illegally voted in New Jersey elections, and now, the Justice Department says it will seek to prosecute those individuals.
Cardoso Registered Herself Online
Cardoso used the New Jersey Division of Elections Online Voter Registration System, according to the criminal complaint.
The process required her to certify that she was a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors say she falsely did so, and New Jersey approved the registration.
She later cast a ballot in the June 2024 primary, an election that included candidates seeking the presidential nominations.
Federal investigators say Cardoso had entered the United States from Ecuador on a B-2 visa and had not become an American citizen by the time she voted.
“The integrity of our elections, which are fundamental to democracy, should be of utmost importance to every American,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said when the charge was announced.
U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said federal authorities are treating illegal voting cases seriously in New Jersey.
“Government has a responsibility to the people to safeguard elections,” Frazer said. “Even one illegal vote is one too many.”
Cardoso is charged with voting by an alien in a federal election. The offense carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services investigated the case.
Cardoso is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
New Jersey’s 6,600 Registrations Were a Different Problem
The number hanging over New Jersey’s voter rolls is much larger than the handful of individual federal prosecutions.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed in July that a software error in the MVC system improperly registered roughly 6,600 people between June 2023 and June 2024.
The state’s description of what happened is striking because the people involved had not claimed to be citizens.
According to Sherrill, they answered “no” when a computer keypad asked whether they were U.S. citizens while they were applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards.
The system registered them anyway.
“This entire situation is unacceptable,” Sherrill said after learning of the problem.
A preliminary review found fewer than 400 people who were newly registered because of the error later voted.
That figure does not mean New Jersey has determined that nearly 400 people knowingly cast illegal ballots. State officials have said some of the people caught in the review may actually have been citizens, while those erroneously registered were initially placed on the rolls through no fault of their own.
The Division of Elections began removing more than 4,500 registrations tied solely to the software failure. The remaining registrations were sent for additional review rather than being automatically canceled because the state said some of those voters may be eligible citizens.
The distinction matters. Cardoso is accused of affirmatively lying about citizenship. The MVC problem involved a state computer system overriding information supplied by people who identified themselves as noncitizens.
Federal Cases Show Noncitizens Have Cast New Jersey Ballots
Cardoso is not an isolated federal voting prosecution in New Jersey.
In June, Eliezer Kadoch of Toms River pleaded guilty to voting in the 2022 midterm election despite never having been a United States citizen. Kadoch, a French citizen, admitted the offense in federal court.
A month later, prosecutors charged Marian Charitun, 62, of Middlesex County. Charitun, a Slovakian citizen, allegedly falsely certified that he was a U.S. citizen when registering and voted in the November 2022 midterm election.
Four other New Jersey noncitizens — David Neewilly, Jacenth Beadle Exum, Idan Choresh and Abhinandan Vig — were charged earlier this year in cases involving voting or statements made during the naturalization process.
Two Bergen County men, Muhammad Muzammal and Muhammad Shakeel, were separately indicted over allegations that they registered while they were noncitizens, falsely certified U.S. citizenship and voted in the 2020 presidential election.
The cases do not establish that noncitizen voting is widespread across New Jersey, nor do they show that the 6,600 MVC registrations were fraudulent. They do establish that federal investigators have identified individual noncitizens who allegedly voted — and, in Kadoch’s case, one who has admitted doing so.
Cardoso’s case offers another route into the voter rolls. Prosecutors say she did not become registered because of the MVC software failure. She allegedly went to New Jersey’s online voter registration system herself, claimed to be an American citizen and later cast a ballot.