January 1, Noncitizen Says She Voted Repeatedly in Georgia

Wyatt’s Take

• A woman admitted to voting many times in Georgia without being a citizen.
• State records show she may have cast ballots in 23 elections over two decades.
• The case highlights loopholes in voter registration and pushes for new citizenship proof laws.

A woman from the Bahamas, Melanie Pickett, has lived in Georgia about 30 years. She told a State Election Board hearing on Dec. 9 she had voted multiple times, even though she isn’t a citizen.

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

Pickett explained how it happened.

“I got a driver’s license … and then I started getting voting-related information in the mail, and I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ Then I got a jury duty summons. At the end of the information sheet you had to fill out, it said, ‘Are you a U.S. citizen,’ and I said, ‘no’ and they told me I could go home.”

“This year, I think, this was my second time trying to vote, and this year they told me I couldn’t vote, and that was about it.”

Pickett said she thought she might have voted three times because her husband and children also vote.

Asked if she typically voted, Pickett responded.

“I take my husband, and if he vote, I vote.”

Georgia’s Secretary of State ordered an audit in 2024. The review found 20 noncitizens were registered to vote even as they openly declared they were not citizens when called for jury duty.

Pickett was one who marked on her jury summons that she was not a citizen.

Despite Pickett’s statements about voting a few times, board member Dr. Janice Johnston said the investigation found records showing Pickett had voted 23 times from November 2000 to December 2022.

Johnston asked

“When you sign the oath, when you register, when you enter the polling place to vote, and it states that you meet the requirements to vote and you’re a U.S. citizen, do you sign that?”

Pickett replied

“I gave them my driver’s license.”

She said she signed whatever paper they gave her without reading.

“I just go straight through it.”

The board voted to send the case to the district attorney, state attorney general, and Department of Justice.

Noncitizen voting is illegal, but the process is loose. Federal forms only ask people to check a box to declare citizenship.

Republicans in the House have passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration, but it has stalled in the Senate.

Stay alert and stay heard—follow the fight to keep America’s voice secure.

Wyatt Matters

Election security means a lot for folks who want their voice to count. Fairness at the ballot box keeps our country strong.

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