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# Sheboygan Case Makes Three Wisconsin Noncitizen Voting Charges in a Month
- URL: https://foxwatershed.com/noncitizen-voting-charges-wisconsin-sheboygan/
- Published: 2026-10-11T12:17:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T12:16:59.000Z
- Description: Federal prosecutors have charged three Wisconsin residents with illegal voting since Sept. 2, part of a midterm-season push by the Justice Department. State records show how rare the crime is here.
- Author: Fox Watershed Staff
- Tags: The Midterm Monitor, Wisconsin State Politics, National

Federal prosecutors have charged a Sheboygan woman with voting in the 2024 presidential election while not a U.S. citizen, the third Wisconsin resident charged with noncitizen voting in about a month. The Justice Department folded the case into a national announcement Monday of 16 new prosecutions, four weeks before the midterm election.1,2

Sara Luma, 30, is a citizen of North Macedonia and a lawful permanent resident. Prosecutors allege she registered at the polls on Nov. 5, 2024, signed a Wisconsin registration form falsely certifying she was a citizen and then voted. According to the Justice Department, she admitted to a federal agent that she registered and voted.1 Charges are allegations, and none of the three Wisconsin defendants has been convicted.

## Three cases, two federal districts

Luma lived in the city of Sheboygan and is charged by criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Wisconsin with unlawfully voting as a noncitizen, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in prison.3,4,5 According to the prosecutors' release, she was taken into custody in August while trying to re-enter the country and was allowed to leave for North Macedonia in September. She faces arrest if she returns.3 "It is illegal for non-citizens to vote and the consequences of doing so are quite serious," said Brad Schimel, the district's first assistant U.S. attorney.3,4

The other two cases come from the Western District and the 2022 midterm. Julieta Engelstad, 53, a Colombian citizen and permanent resident living in Hudson, is accused of registering in July 2022 by claiming to be a citizen and voting that November. She faces up to five years on the registration count.6 Jesus Javier Jurado Garcia, 25, a Mexican citizen living in Beloit, was charged Sept. 2 with voting in the Nov. 8, 2022, election.7,8

The Wisconsin cases are part of a string of releases from Attorney General Todd Blanche's Justice Department. A Sept. 18 announcement charged 16 people in seven states, and Monday's added 16 more, including 10 in Minnesota.2,9 The defendants come from different countries and the cases don't appear to be connected to one another, Votebeat reported.9

## How often it happens here

Wisconsin's own records show how uncommon the crime is. After the November 2024 election, in which more than 3.4 million ballots were cast, local clerks referred 46 cases of suspected fraud or irregularities to prosecutors. Only one involved alleged noncitizen voting, a Dane County case tied to the 2020 and 2022 elections.10

Studies elsewhere point the same way. A Brennan Center survey of 42 jurisdictions after the 2016 election found about 30 suspected noncitizen votes out of 23.5 million cast.11 A Michigan state review found 15 noncitizens voted among roughly 5.7 million ballots cast there in 2024.12 About 154 million Americans voted in the 2024 general election, according to the Census Bureau.13

Wisconsin voters already settled the constitutional question. In November 2024, about 70% approved an amendment saying only U.S. citizens may vote in the state's elections, which changed the wording of the constitution without changing who was eligible.14

## The bigger fight over the voter rolls

The prosecutions are running alongside a broader push by the administration to check voter rolls against federal citizenship data. A federal judge in Madison dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking Wisconsin's unredacted voter list, including partial Social Security numbers, in May. The department has appealed to the 7th Circuit.15 On Sept. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court let the government use an expanded version of its SAVE citizenship database, which now draws on Social Security records, while a challenge continues.16

In Wisconsin, voters attest to their citizenship under penalty of law when they register, including at the polls on Election Day. Madison-based LawForward asked the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Sept. 30 to tell clerks that state law doesn't allow them to use the SAVE system to question voters' citizenship.17 The commission hadn't publicly responded as of Monday.

A federal court ruling could also shape the cases. On Oct. 2, a federal judge in Florida dismissed a noncitizen voting charge after finding the federal law unconstitutional as applied to that defendant, because states, not Congress, set voter qualifications. The Justice Department is appealing.18 The ruling doesn't bind courts in Wisconsin, which sit in the 7th Circuit.

## What's next for voters

None of this changes the rules for eligible voters. Online and mail registration closes Oct. 14, and residents can register in person at their clerk's office through Oct. 30 or at the polls on Nov. 3 with proof of residence. In-person absentee voting starts as early as Oct. 20.19

---

1. [Justice Department Announces Charges Involving 16 Aliens for Election Crimes](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-involving-16-aliens-election-crimes?ref=foxwatershed.com)
2. [16 foreigners charged with U.S. election crimes, including in Wisconsin](https://www.wbay.com/2026/10/05/16-foreigners-charged-with-us-election-crimes-including-wisconsin/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
3. [Alien Charged with Illegal Voting in 2024 Wisconsin Federal Election](https://drydenwire.com/news/doj-alien-charged-with-illegal-voting-in-2024-federal-election/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
4. [Sheboygan Resident Charged With Unlawful Voting by Non-Citizen in 2024](https://whbl.com/2026/10/01/sheboygan-resident-charged-with-unlawful-voting-by-non-citizen-in-2024/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
5. [18 U.S. Code § 611 - Voting by aliens](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/611?ref=foxwatershed.com)
6. [Indictment Unsealed Charging Colombian Citizen With Illegally Registering to Vote and Voting in the 2022 Election](https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwi/pr/indictment-unsealed-charging-colombian-citizen-illegally-registering-vote-and-voting?ref=foxwatershed.com)
7. [Five Charged in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin with Illegally Voting, Fraudulent Registration in 2022 or 2024 Election](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/five-charged-pennsylvania-new-jersey-and-wisconsin-illegally-voting-fraudulent-registration?ref=foxwatershed.com)
8. [Man living in Beloit faces federal charge of noncitizen voting](https://wislawjournal.com/2026/09/08/man-beloit-charged-noncitizen-voting-wisconsin/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
9. [Trump administration charges 16 people with noncitizen voting ahead of 2026 midterms - Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/09/21/16-charged-noncitizen-voting-michigan-wisconsin-texas-georgia/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
10. [Wisconsin clerks referred 46 cases of suspected fraud, irregularities in the November 2024 election](https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/wisconsin-clerks-referred-46-cases-of-suspected-fraud-irregularities-in-the-november-2024-election/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
11. [Noncitizen Voting: The Missing Millions](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/noncitizen-voting-missing-millions?ref=foxwatershed.com)
12. ['Extremely rare': 15 noncitizens voted in 2024 election, according to state review](https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/extremely-rare-15-noncitizens-voted-in-2024-election-according-to-state-review?ref=foxwatershed.com)
13. [2024 Presidential Election Voting and Registration Tables Now Available](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USCENSUS/bulletins/3de0817?ref=foxwatershed.com)
14. [Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly approve ban on noncitizen voting](https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2024/11/06/citizenship-constitutional-amendment-bans-local-noncitizen-voting/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
15. [Judge dismisses federal government's lawsuit over Wisconsin voter records](https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2026/05/21/judge-dismisses-department-justice-lawsuit-voter-roll/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
16. [U.S. Supreme Court allows use of expanded SAVE system ahead of the November elections](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/09/25/u-s-supreme-court-allows-use-of-expanded-save-system-ahead-of-the-november-elections/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
17. [Wisconsin Law Does Not Permit SAVE System Citizenship Verification](https://www.lawforward.org/wisconsin-law-does-not-permit-save-system-citizenship-verification/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
18. [Judge says federal law banning noncitizen voting is unconstitutional](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-federal-law-banning-noncitizen-voting-unconstitutional/?ref=foxwatershed.com)
19. [Everything you need to know about voting in Wisconsin's November election](https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2026/10/05/how-to-vote-november-election-2026-early-absentee-ballots/?ref=foxwatershed.com)