Latest news with #election2024
CBS News
2 days ago
- General
- CBS News
University of Michigan student fled to China after being charged with voting illegally, FBI says
A Chinese national charged with voting illegally at the University of Michigan has fled the U.S. Haoxiang Gao was attending the Ann Arbor-based university in October 2024 and lived on campus, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month. Safety officials with the school spoke with Gao on Oct. 28 after hearing reports that he had unlawfully cast a vote in the 2024 general election. Gao admitted during the conversation that he registered to, and cast, a vote at a polling location on campus on Oct. 27, according to court documents. Gao was charged by the state on Oct. 30 with one count each of unauthorized elector attempting to vote and making a false affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration, court records show. During Gao's arraignment, a judge ordered him to surrender his Chinese passport and not to leave Michigan. The FBI said in the filing that Gao's passport was in the possession of school safety officials during the court hearing. According to charges, he boarded a Delta flight from Detroit International Airport to Shanghai, China, on Jan. 19 using a Chinese passport in his name. A warrant for Gao was issued after he missed court hearings on March 6 and April 24. He has been federally charged with flight to avoid prosecution, though the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China. Studies and investigations have found very few instances of noncitizens voting in federal elections in modern history. Analysis by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found 30 cases of noncitizens suspected of voting in the 2024 general election reported by election officials out of 23.5 million votes cast in the 42 jurisdictions reviewed. contributed to this report.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Joni Ernst Issues Non-Apology for Joke About People Dying Due to GOP Medicaid Cuts
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) doubled down on Saturday on her flippant remarks about people dying due to Medicaid cuts in a new Instagram video that appeared to be recorded in a cemetery. During a town hall on Friday, Ernst was pressed about President Donald Trump's tax bill, which would slash Medicaid in order to help fund a new round of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. The legislation is expected to force 10 million people off Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans. When an audience member shouted, 'People are going to die,' Ernst responded: 'Well, we all are going to die.' Her unfunny joke drew headlines around the country, and was featured prominently on the front page of The Des Moines Register on Saturday. In a video posted on her Instagram story on Saturday, Ernst, who is up for reelection next year, decided it was wise to mock her constituents who do not wish to die due to a lack of health insurance. 'Hello, everyone. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall,' she says in the clip, which features gravestones in the distance behind her. 'See, I was in the process of answering a question that had been asked by an audience member, when a woman who was extremely distraught, screamed out from the back corner of the auditorium, 'People are going to die.' And I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth.' 'So I apologize,' Ernst concludes, 'and I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well. But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.' Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said in a statement Saturday, 'Thoughts and prayers have a new meaning for the Republican Party with Joni Ernst doubling down on her cruel words. It is immoral and un-Christian to do nothing to prevent people from dying but unfortunately, Trump, Ernst, and the Republican Party are hellbent on putting their own constituents at risk.' Ernst had tried to defend the Medicaid cuts on Friday as necessary to ensure that undocumented immigrants are not on Medicaid. It's a favorite Republican talking point, but this is a blatant lie: Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid. Of the 10 million Americans who are expected to lose Medicaid under the Republican tax bill, none of them are undocumented immigrants. The Trump tax bill would force millions off Medicaid by imposing work requirements on so-called 'able-bodied' adults, demanding they work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. One problem with this idea is that many Medicaid recipients cannot work but have not been approved for disability benefits, which is an onerous process. Those beneficiaries will lose their insurance. The Medicaid program also contains strict income caps that require beneficiaries to earn exceedingly little money. Taken together, Republicans are effectively demanding that Medicaid recipients work low-income jobs in order to maintain their health insurance, and the added bureaucracy will certainly result in many eligible beneficiaries losing coverage. Ernst pledged Friday that the Republicans are 'going to focus on those that are most vulnerable,' adding that 'Medicaid is extremely important here in the state of Iowa.' Ernst made a post on X thanking people for coming to her town hall. 'I always enjoy hearing from constituents and sharing my work to cut government red tape for you,' she wrote. The post has 270 likes and 2,000 comments. More from Rolling Stone Trump Could Get Fox News-Style Intel Briefings Because He 'Doesn't Read': Report The Seven Ugliest Provisions in Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Trump Says He's Fired Director of National Portrait Gallery ... Over 'DEI' Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Feds: Chinese student who voted in MI election fled US
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Federal prosecutors have unsealed a criminal case against a Chinese man accused of voting illegally in the 2024 election. The documents provide details on how 19-year-old University of Michigan student Haoxiang Gao managed to leave the U.S. despite surrendering his Chinese passport and agreeing to stay in Michigan while on bond. The case was unsealed seven months after authorities revealed that a student who wasn't a U.S. citizen had cast a ballot for the presidential election at an early voting site in Ann Arbor. Gao cast his ballot in late October, but then reportedly contacted the local clerk, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back. University investigators spoke with Gao the next day. An FBI agent wrote in the criminal case that Gao admitted to casting a vote. Law enforcement charged Gao with perjury on Nov. 8, 2024 — a charge that carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. Prosecutors say Gao surrendered one Chinese passport but used a second one issued in his name to board a Delta flight leaving from Detroit to Shanghai on Jan. 19. It was unclear how he obtained the second passport. 'We have authorized his extradition from anywhere in the world, and remain committed to prosecuting the case to the fullest extent of the law,' Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit said, according to the . By fleeing the country, Gao is now being additionally charged with flight to avoid prosecution, a felony punishable by up to five years in federal prison, on top of possible prison time for his other charges. In April, a review by the Michigan Secretary of State's office identified 15 non-U.S. citizens who cast ballots in the November election, the Detroit News . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
B.C.'s chief electoral officer pushes against ‘false narratives' in 2024 vote
Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman speaks during a press conference at the Elections BC office in Victoria on Sept. 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito British Columbia's chief electoral officer has issued a report he says pushes back against 'false narratives' about the 2024 provincial election, as the Opposition BC Conservatives continue to call for an independent review. Anton Boegman says the falsehoods include claims about many non-citizens voting, widespread multiple voting and extensive fraudulent use of mail-in voting. Boegman says B.C. has 'well-established and proven processes' to keep elections secure, adding that all voters must affirm their eligibility, including citizenship before registering and voting. Officials also prevent multiple voting by checking voters off lists, and people voting by mail must meet identity and integrity standards, he added. Boegman acknowledged October's election faced challenges and he accepted responsibility for human-caused errors including uncounted and unreported ballots that prompted a partial recount in the riding of Prince George-Mackenzie. Boegman says the errors did not affect the final results, with Premier David Eby's NDP winning a single-seat majority, but Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad says a 'number of errors' put the results in question. The report is the first volume in a series of reports into the Oct. 19 vote. It says 'administrative challenges' included the late withdrawal of the BC United Party, extreme weather on voting day and human error. In Prince George-Mackenzie, election officials failed to count a ballot box containing 861 advance votes on election night. The report says the mistake was made after a single ballot was inserted into a box without being tabulated. The mistake was noted and election officials were instructed to reset the tabulator and re-insert all the ballots. However the report says the instructions were followed incorrectly, and while the retabulated box was counted, a second box containing other advance votes was not. 'Our review determined that while there were contributing factors, the mistakes were a result of election official errors,' the report says of the uncounted box and other errors. It says contributing factors 'included the complexity of our electoral model and the reliance on manual processes for key parts of results reporting, the shortened time between initial count and final count, and the delay in completing a quality assurance report at (Elections BC) HQ.' 'These factors were exacerbated by the long working hours and extreme weather event on final voting day,' it says. This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published May 27, 2025.
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
GOP outperformed Dems on voter registration in key battleground states, new analysis reveals
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans outperformed Democrats on voter registration in four key battleground states between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, according to research by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC). The bipartisan political consultant non-profit teamed up with analysts from Data Trust, a conservative organization, and Target Smart, which has aligned with Democrats in past election cycles. Compiling data from the 2020 and 2024 elections in Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania, the research suggests a national shift in voter registration toward the Republican Party. "We wanted a bipartisan analysis because there are so many conventional wisdoms this election challenged," Larry Huynh of Trilogy Interactive and Democrat AAPC Board President said. "The data was pretty clear that the Democrats were caught off guard with voter registration and turnout efforts and failed to mount a sufficiently compelling counter-effort to compete. We should all learn from this and take a deeper dive into our voter registration and turnout operations." AAPC unveiled the research this week during the 2025 Pollie Awards, a political communications awards program, in Colorado Springs, Colo. "The Trump campaign and the Republican Party deserve considerable recognition for their voter registration success and turnout efforts and the party should try to build on these successes," Kyle Roberts of AdImpact and the incoming Republican AAPC Board President told Fox News Digital. From 2020 to 2024, the bipartisan political analysis found the share of registered Democrat voters dropped in all four battleground states. Meanwhile, the share of registered unaffiliated and Republican voters increased in Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to the data compiled by Data Trust and Target Smart. In three out of four of the states analyzed, unaffiliated voters accounted for the largest electoral increase. Democrats saw the largest electoral drop between 2020 and 2024 across the four battleground states, following the same trend as voter registration. Voter turnout across party lines dropped in three out of the four battleground states analyzed, the data revealed. And while Democrat turnout dropped more than Republican turnout in those three states, the difference was less than a percentage point in every state but Arizona. Data Trust and Target Smart also analyzed trends across demographic groups, including Black, Hispanic and rural voters. The overall increase in Republican registration, turnout and electoral growth was consistent across the demographic groups analyzed. President Donald Trump won all seven battleground states in 2024 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Republicans maintained control of the House of Representatives and won back the Senate. 70% of voters believed the country was on the wrong track and wanted change in the 2024 presidential election, according to Fox News Voter Analysis. The economy and immigration were top issues as Trump tied inflation to President Joe Biden's administration and vowed to secure the border on his first day in office. As AAPC seeks to analyze Republicans' inroads with swing state voters in 2024, Democrats are facing their own reckoning this week as a new book reveals the alleged "cover-up" of Biden's cognitive decline. CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson's book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," released on Tuesday, paints an unflattering picture of Democrats' losses in 2024. While political commentators focus on what Democrats did wrong in 2024, AAPC's new data reveals what Republicans did right on voter registration and turnout. The Republican National Committee (RNC) opened "Black Americans for Trump" and "Latino Americans for Trump" offices across the battleground states in 2024, seeking to expand their reach among traditionally Democrat voting blocs. Over 160,000 volunteers joined the RNC's "Protect the Vote" efforts on election integrity in 2024, which included more than 100 lawsuits and recruiting poll watchers across the country. Seizing on Republicans' election distrust following Trump's loss in 2020, the RNC built a coalition of supporters across the country that propelled voters to the polls and landed Trump a win in 2024.
