WEST OLIVE, Mich. — A 19-year-old University of Michigan student from China now faces criminal charges related to voting as a non-U.S. citizen.

At an early voting center on campus, the student used a university ID card to register, providing documents proving residency in Ann Arbor.

They signed a document claiming American citizenship and submitted a ballot.

Since they had already put that ballot into a tabulator by the time his citizenship was questioned, his vote will be counted.

FOX 17 sat down with Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck on Thursday to learn more about what happens after you submit your ballot.

“The multiple opportunities available to voters have absolutely increased the challenges for election administration,” Roebuck said Thursday. “But, at the end of the day, it’s a great opportunity. It’s a great opportunity for our voters to be able to make their voices heard.”

Once your ballot has been placed in the tabulator, it is placed in a sealed and secure compartment: the ballot box.

This applies to early voters who come to physically drop off their ballots and anyone submitting a traditional ballot on Election Day.

This box is finally emptied on election night, once the polling stations have closed.

A bipartisan team empties the ballot box in a public location, allowing observers and members of the public to witness it. The ballots are then transferred to a secure container, sealed with a tamper-evident seal, and the seal number is recorded.

Ballots are retained for 22 months, as required by law.

To ensure security and confidentiality, ballots are tracked using numbered stubs which are detached prior to voting. This allows election officials to check the number of ballots received and remaining.

“The beauty of the secret ballot is that we really don’t know,” Roebuck explained. “We do not have a method using the secret ballot process, and we would not want that to associate a voter’s name with the physical ballot.”

Voter registration can take place up until Election Day at 8 p.m., requiring photo ID and proof of residency.

Federal law says election officials cannot require a person registering to provide documented proof of U.S. citizenship.

If someone does not have a Michigan driver’s license, they must sign a legal affidavit stating that they are in fact a U.S. citizen.

“It is up to the voter, under penalty of a five-year felony, to self-certify that they are of legal voting age and that they are a U.S. citizen,” Roebuck explains. “For a non-citizen, this is truly a serious crime, and it is something that would ultimately result in deportation if convicted.

Michigan voters have several options for returning their early ballots:

• Physically take him to an early voting site
• Drop it off at the clerk’s office or in a drop box

Visit michigan.gov/vote has:

• Check registration status
• Find voting locations and times
• View sample ballots

In Ottawa County, you can also check wait times for early voting centers using the line management tool at miottawa.org/earlyvoting.

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