{"id":2524079,"date":"2025-12-22T17:53:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T22:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T17:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T22:54:21","slug":"noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Noncitizen Says She Voted In Multiple Georgia Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnoncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2524079&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Bahamian-born Georgia resident, Melanie Pickett, told the State Election Board at a Dec. 9 hearing that she &#8211; a noncitizen who has lived in Georgia about 30 years &#8211; has voted in multiple elections.Pickett said she received a driver&#8217;s license, began getting voting materials in the mail, and sometimes filled out forms without reading them; she estimated she &#8220;maybe&#8221; voted three times. Board members cited an investigation showing voting records that indicate Pickett cast ballots 23 times between November 2000 and december 2022. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger previously audited records and identified 20 noncitizens registered to vote in the state. The SEB voted to refer Pickett&#8217;s case to the district attorney, the state attorney general, and the U.S. Department of justice. The article notes that federal law relies on a signed attestation of citizenship when registering to vote and highlights the Republican-backed SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bombshell-doj-conceals-records-about-bidens-use-of-federal-agencies-to-influence-elections\/\" title=\"Bombshell: DOJ Conceals Records About Biden\u2019s Use Of Federal Agencies To Influence Elections\">federal voter registration<\/a> but has stalled in the Senate.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AK_JF-Eh4gc\">georgia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-and-gop-senator-thom-tillis-win-north-carolina-decision-desk-hq\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump and GOP Senator Thom Tillis Win North Carolina: Decision Desk HQ\">state election board<\/a>\/Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/22\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections-they-gave-me-a-paper-to-sign\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Noncitizen%20Says%20She%20Voted%20In%20Multiple%20Georgia%20Elections:%20%E2%80%98They%20Gave%20Me%20A%20Paper%20To%20Sign%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/22\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections-they-gave-me-a-paper-to-sign\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Noncitizen%20Says%20She%20Voted%20In%20Multiple%20Georgia%20Elections:%20%E2%80%98They%20Gave%20Me%20A%20Paper%20To%20Sign%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/22\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections-they-gave-me-a-paper-to-sign\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/22\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections-they-gave-me-a-paper-to-sign\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Noncitizen%20Says%20She%20Voted%20In%20Multiple%20Georgia%20Elections:%20%E2%80%98They%20Gave%20Me%20A%20Paper%20To%20Sign%E2%80%99&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/22\/noncitizen-says-she-voted-in-multiple-georgia-elections-they-gave-me-a-paper-to-sign\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>A woman who moved to Georgia from the Bahamas 30 years ago and is not a citizen admitted during a Dec. 9 State Election Board (SEB) hearing that she has voted multiple times. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.<\/p>\n<p>Clayton County resident <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/1stVCGAGOP\/status\/1999530541670928657\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Melanie Pickett<\/a> is a Bahamian native but has lived in the Peach State for approximately 30 years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1432731044\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Pickett, she does not &ldquo;know&rdquo; &ldquo;how it happened.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I got a driver&rsquo;s license &hellip; and then I started getting&rdquo; voting-related information &ldquo;in the mail, and I said, &lsquo;Oh, OK.&rsquo; And then I got a jury duty [summons]. So I went to jury duty, and at the end of the information [sheet] you had to fill out, it said, &lsquo;Are you a U.S. citizen,&rsquo; and I said, &lsquo;no&rsquo; and they told me I could go home,&rdquo; Pickett said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This year, I think, this was my second time trying to vote, and this year they told me I couldn&rsquo;t vote, and that was about it,&rdquo; Pickett said during the Dec. 9 SEB <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AK_JF-Eh4gc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing<\/a>. Pickett said, however, that she was informed she was ineligible to vote, apparently due to her noncitizen status.<\/p>\n<p>But Pickett subsequently said she &ldquo;maybe&rdquo; voted three times. Pickett said she assumed she could vote since her husband and children all voted. When SEB member Janelle King asked Pickett if she &ldquo;typically vote[s],&rdquo; she responded, &ldquo;I take my husband, and if he vote, I vote.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Georgia&rsquo;s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger <a href=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/briefs\/georgia-gop-secretary-of-state-reports-audit-found-20-noncitizens-registered-to-vote-out-of-8-2m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conducted an audit<\/a> in 2024 that compared court records from counties against state election, driver&rsquo;s license data, and information from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Twenty noncitizens who were registered to vote had simultaneously declared they were <em>not<\/em> citizens when summoned for jury duty. Pickett noted during her hearing that she accurately noted on a jury summons form that she was indeed not a citizen.<\/p>\n<p>Though Pickett indicated she voted a handful of times, SEB member Dr. Janice Johnston cited an investigation that found voting records showing Pickett voted 23 times between November 2000 and December 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Johnston also asked Pickett, &ldquo;When you sign the oath, when you register, when you enter the polling place to vote, and it states that you meet the requirements to vote and you&rsquo;re a U.S. citizen, do you sign that?&rdquo; Pickett said, &ldquo;I gave them my driver&rsquo;s license&rdquo; and &ldquo;they gave [her] a paper to sign,&rdquo; but she doesn&rsquo;t think she read the forms: &ldquo;I just go straight through it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The SEB ultimately voted to send this case to the district attorney, state attorney general, and Department of Justice. <\/p>\n<p>While noncitizen voting is illegal, current federal law is largely hamstrung &mdash; as evidenced by Pickett&rsquo;s case. Prospective voters simply check a tiny square box on a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >federal voter registration form attesting<\/a> under penalty of perjury that they are a citizen.<\/p>\n<p>To remedy the insecure system, Republicans in the House have passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">which would amend<\/a> the 1993 National Voter Registration Act to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation, however, has stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/brad-raffensperger\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Brad Raffensperger<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/clay-county\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Clay County<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/georgia-state-election-board\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Georgia state election board<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/janelle-king\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Janelle King<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/janice-johnston\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Janice Johnston<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/national-voter-registration-act\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">National Voter Registration Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/noncitizen-voting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">noncitizen voting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/save-act\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SAVE Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/state-election-board\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">state election board<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Noncitizen Bahamian in GA admits voting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2524080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-12.14.48-PM-scaled-e1766430445871.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[33739,35468,3976,36987,69259],"class_list":["post-2524079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-election-law","tag-georgia-elections","tag-investigation","tag-noncitizen-voting","tag-voter-fraud-allegations"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-12.14.48-PM-scaled-e1766430445871.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2524079"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2524083,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524079\/revisions\/2524083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2524079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2524079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2524079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}