5 noncitizens charged after voting in Michigan's 2024 election

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Aug 13, 2026

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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges Thursday against five non-U.S. citizens who allegedly voted in the 2024 presidential election and another person who allegedly registered their non-citizen spouse to vote.

The revelation came amid a push by Republican President Donald Trump's administration to scrutinize voter rolls across the country and a campaign to get a proposal on the ballot in Michigan to institute new identification and proof-of-citizenship standards for voters.

Nessel's office said it's been investigating 38 suspected cases of non-citizens voting or "adjacent conduct in elections spanning from 2009 to 2025." Six cases have resulted in criminal charges, which were detailed Thursday.

Meanwhile, 10 other cases have been closed without charges, and 22 remain under review, Nessel's office said.

"In my office, we’ve always taken election crimes seriously and prosecute attacks on our voting systems to the fullest extent of the law," said Nessel, a Democrat and Michigan's top law enforcement official. “We’re upholding election integrity by investigating all claims of non-citizen voters, as rare as they are, and holding bad actors accountable when they refuse to abide by the laws that keep our elections safe and secure."

One of the individuals charged was Basanth Sadasivian, 29, who resides in the United Kingdom and is not an American citizen, according to Nessel's office. Sadasivian allegedly registered to vote in 2024 by email through the federal postcard application system, using a Bloomfield Hills address.

Sadasivian voted under that same federal system in the 2024 general election, according to Nessel's office. Sadasivian is charged with one count of being an unqualified elector attempting to vote, a four-year felony.

Michael Akioya, 39, of Oak Park is a lawful permanent resident but not an American citizen and therefore ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections, according to Nessel's office.

Akioya allegedly registered to vote in 2016 with an Inkster address and voted in the 2024 general election by absentee ballot in Oak Park, attesting to his U.S. citizenship on his application and ballot envelope. He was charged with two misdemeanors in March.

Likewise, Harumi Michael, 60, of Wolverine Lake, another lawful permanent resident, isn't an American citizen but allegedly registered to vote in 2024 and voted in-person in the 2024 general election in Commerce Township. Michael was charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor. Michael's most serious charges were election law forgery, which carry penalties of up to five years behind bars.

Robert Piva, 67, of Roseville, is also a lawful permanent resident but non-U.S. citizen. Piva allegedly registered to vote online in September 2024 and voted in-person at an early voting location in Roseville in October of that year.

"Piva has claimed his vote was an experiment concerning voter fraud," the Attorney General's Office said.

Piva was arraigned on Monday and faces two felonies and a misdemeanor.

In April 2025, a months-long review by the Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office identified 15 individuals who allegedly weren't U.S. citizens but still cast ballots in the November 2024 presidential election.

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