FOX 2 - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against five non-citizens alleged to have voted in Michigan’s 2024 November general election.
Her office also brought charges against one U.S. citizen accused of registering their non-citizen spouse to vote.
By the numbers:
Sixteen cases of non-citizens voting in the 2024 election were brought to Nessel's office, in addition to 22 more cases involving non-citizens voting in elections between 2009 and 2025, by the Michigan Department of State.
In addition to the six charged, 10 have been closed without charges, and 22 remain under review.
The six cases are:
Michael Akioya, 39, of Oak Park, charged with one count each of false statement on an absent voter ballot application, and false statement on an absentee vote ballot return envelope. Both are a 90-day misdemeanors.
Kimberley DiDonato, 60, of Rose Township, charged with one count of election forgery, a five-year felony and using a computer to commit a crime, a seven-year felony.
Alondra Harker, 26, of Three Rivers, charged with one count of election law – fraudulent registration, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Harumi Michael, 60, of Wolverine Lake, charged with two counts of election law forgery, a five-year felony, one count of unqualified elector attempting to vote, a four-year felony, and one count of voter registration – false statement, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Robert Piva, 67, of Roseville, charged with one count of election law perjury, a five-year felony, unqualified elector attempting to vote, a four-year felony, and election law – fraudulent registration, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Basanth Sadasivian, 29, a United Kingdom resident, charged with one count of election law – unqualified elector attempting to vote, a four-year felony.
What they're saying:
"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 Attorney General Nessel. "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.
"These charges reflect the severity of the allegations, the sanctity of our democracy, and the tremendous consequences of voting illegally— whether that’s done to try and ‘test’ security measures or to make an unlawful vote count."
More about the suspects
Dig deeper:
Michael Akioya is a lawful resident but not an American citizen and ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections.
It is alleged Akioya was registered to vote in 2016 with an Inkster address and voted in the 2024 general election by absentee ballot in Oak Park, attesting to U.S. citizenship on his application and ballot envelope.
Kimberley DiDonato is an American citizen married to a lawful resident who is ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections. It is alleged DiDonato, posing as her non-citizen husband, falsely claimed he was an American citizen, provided her husband’s identifying information, and registered him to vote online in April of 2024.
It is further alleged that upon receiving a voter registration card in her husband’s name, DiDonato contacted her local clerk to cancel the registration in May of that year.
DiDonato claimed her intent was to test the registration system for vulnerabilities to unqualified voter registrants.
Alondra Harker is a limited-term alien resident, though not an American citizen and therefore ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections.
It is alleged Harker registered and voted in-person in the 2024 general election in Three Rivers.
Harumi Michael is a lawful permanent resident, though not an American citizen and ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections. It is alleged Michael registered to vote in 2024 and voted in-person in the 2024 general election in Commerce Township.
Robert Piva is a lawful permanent resident, though not an American citizen and therefore ineligible to vote in any state and federal elections. It is alleged Piva 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.
Basanth Sadasivian presently resides in the United Kingdom and is not an American citizen. It is alleged Sadasivian registered to vote in 2024 by email via the Federal Post Card Application system, using a Bloomfield Hills address, and voted under that same federal system in the 2024 general election.
Upon investigation by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, it was determined that two voters subject to cases referred by the Michigan Department of State were American citizens.
In several cases, the Department of Attorney General investigation was unable to determine the voters’ means of registration.
Voter registrations associated with every identified non-citizen voter, charged or otherwise, have been canceled.
The Michigan Department of Attorney General’s Office review of 22 open cases referred in 2025 and 2026 remains ongoing.
The Source: Information for this report is from the Michigan Attorney General's Office.