“Minnesotans shouldn’t have to rely on federal investigators to uncover alleged illegal voting in our elections.”
MINNESOTA — Tad Jude, Republican candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury indicted ten foreign nationals, non-citizens, on voter-fraud charges involving Minnesota elections.
According to the Justice Department, the indictments involve alleged illegal voting and false claims of U.S. citizenship connected to the 2022 general election, 2024 general election, and August 2026 primary election. Federal prosecutors allege that one defendant illegally voted as recently as August 11, 2026.
Jude said the indictments raise serious questions about Minnesota’s voter-registration safeguards and Secretary of State Steve Simon’s administration of the state’s election system.
“Ten non-citizens. Three election cycles. Federal voter-fraud indictments. Secretary Simon has some explaining to do.”
“These aren’t hypothetical concerns. Federal prosecutors have brought criminal charges alleging that foreign nationals falsely claimed U.S. citizenship to register to vote and that individuals who were not citizens actually cast ballots in Minnesota elections.
“So where was Minnesota’s election system? Secretary Simon owes Minnesotans some basic answers. How were these individuals allegedly able to register or vote? Did Minnesota’s voter-registration system identify any of them? If it did, when did Simon’s office know? If it didn’t, why didn’t it? What safeguards failed—or were simply not in place—to prevent this from happening?
“And perhaps most importantly: How many other cases haven’t been found?
“Simon has been Minnesota’s Secretary of State for more than a decade and is the state’s chief elections official. When federal investigators uncover alleged illegal voting spanning multiple election cycles, Minnesotans have every right to demand answers about whether the safeguards intended to protect their elections are working.
“Minnesotans shouldn’t have to rely on Homeland Security investigators and federal prosecutors to uncover alleged illegal voting. Minnesota’s Secretary of State should be working to identify vulnerabilities before an illegal ballot is cast—not answering questions after federal indictments are announced.
“Election integrity shouldn’t be partisan. Every eligible citizen should be able to vote. Every lawful ballot should be counted. And if you are not legally eligible to vote, you should not be able to cast a ballot. Period.
“Minnesotans can have both accessible elections and secure elections. They should expect nothing less. As Secretary of State, I will push for stronger safeguards, greater transparency, and accountability when weaknesses are discovered. When there is evidence of a vulnerability, we fix it. When something goes wrong, we tell Minnesotans what happened. And when someone allegedly violates our election laws, we make sure the appropriate authorities have the information necessary to investigate.
“After these federal indictments, ‘trust us’ isn’t an answer.
“Minnesotans deserve to know what happened, how it happened, and why didn’t Secretary of State Simon do his job.”
On September 30, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota announced that ten defendants had been separately indicted by a federal grand jury on September 24. The Justice Department alleges offenses including voting by an alien and making a false claim of U.S. citizenship to vote.
The cases resulted from an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations. An indictment contains allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, September 30, 2026.
ABOUT TAD JUDE
Tad Jude is the Republican candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State. Jude has formerly served as a district court judge, Minnesota state representative, state senator, and as a Hennepin County commissioner
His campaign’s SAVE Minnesota Plan calls for stronger election safeguards, accurate voter rolls, voter identification, citizenship eligibility protections, and increased cooperation among local, state, and federal officials.
Learn more about Tad at his website: TadJude.com
Social: Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube: @TadJudeMN