Federal authorities brought charges this week against a Ukrainian mother and daughter they say cast illegal ballots in Florida in last year’s presidential election.
Svitlana Demydenko and her daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko, are legal permanent residents but not U.S. citizens, which means they are not entitled to vote in federal elections.
But they went online to register to vote last August and cast ballots in person on Oct. 31.
When investigators spoke with the women, the daughter said she voted to make a difference, and the mother said she voted to support the country.
The women came to the U.S. in 2021 on visitors’ visas. The mother had a fiancee visa, and the daughter had a visa as the under-21-year-old child of a fiancee visa holder.
They adjusted to legal permanent residents in 2023.
They were charged with voting by an alien, which is a misdemeanor.
The charges were announced a day after federal prosecutors in New York announced charges against an Iraqi man they say illegally voted in the 2020 election.
Akeel Abdul Jamiel was accused of casting a ballot in Saratoga County.
