A 19-year-old Chinese international student who is not a US citizen – and accused of voting illegally in Michigan – allegedly asked to have his ballot returned after casting it, according to local media outlet WLNS-TV Channel 6.

On Wednesday, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a joint statement regarding the incident: “As a result of an alleged violation of the law involving a non-public citizen American voting at an Ann Arbor early voting site on Sunday, October 27. , the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office authorized criminal charges. »

The student attends the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his name has not been released.

He is accused of falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote the same day he voted, WLNS reported. The student was charged with one count of attempting to vote as an unauthorized voter and one count of forgery in order to register to vote.

“Only U.S. citizens can register and vote in our elections. It is illegal to lie on registration forms or voting applications about one’s citizenship status. It is a crime,” the joint statement continued.

News week contacted the Secretary of State’s press team, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office for comment via email Wednesday evening.

Benson’s office told WLNS that the student’s ballot was put into the tabulator and will be counted in the next general election because once ballots are processed, it is not possible to put them back. to recover.

The joint statement added that “non-citizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event.”

The charges in Michigan were filed as Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trumpas well as its allies, raise concerns about the massive voting of non-citizens.

Michigan, with its 15 Electoral College votes, is a key battleground state for Trump and the Democratic nominee and vice president. Kamala Harris.

As of Wednesday evening, the state was in a near-impasse, with voting aggregations of 538, The New York Times And Nick SilverIt is Money Newsletter showing Harris up about 1 percentage point, while The Hill Overall, it shows an even closer race, with Harris up 0.3 points, 48.5 percent to Trump’s 48.2 percent.

As of Wednesday evening, 538’s forecast model predicts that Harris has a 59 percent chance of winning the state, while Trump has a 41 percent chance.

President Joe Biden won the state in 2020, flipping it to Trump, who narrowly won it in 2016.