(The Center Square) — New Hampshire authorities have charged a non-U.S. citizen with voting in three previous elections despite being prohibited from doing so by federal and state laws.
Naseef Bryan, 34, is charged with three felony counts of wrongful voting, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella’s Office.
State prosecutors allege Bryan voted in the Nov. 7, 2023 Manchester City Election, the Jan. 23, 2024 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, and the Nov. 5, 2024 general election despite not being qualified to vote because of his citizenship status. According to the AG’s office, he is due in court in August.
“The charges and allegations against Mr. Bryan are merely accusations,” Formella’s office said in a statement. “Mr. Bryan is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
Election integrity has been an issue in New Hampshire since the 2016 presidential election, when then-Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed that busloads of Massachusetts Democrats were brought into the state to vote against him.
Trump reiterated the allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 elections, which he ultimately lost.
Those claims were discredited by then New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, a Democrat, who said there was no evidence of voter fraud in the 2016 elections.
A 2022 report by the Special Committee on Voter Confidence concluded that the state’s election system “works as is intended” and “deserves the support and confidence” of the state’s voters. Instances of voter fraud are “rare and isolated,” and promptly investigated by state and local election officials, according to the report.
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“Checks and balances are in place to deter and prevent such occurrences, and processes exist to investigate and correct errors when they occur,” they wrote.
Last year, then-Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, signed a bill that requires identification to cast a ballot, without exceptions, and documented proof of U.S. citizenship for first-time New Hampshire voters to register to vote.