Chinese National Charged With Illegal Voting Flees US

The FBI announced that the Chinese national charged with illegally voting in Michigan last year fled the country, and reportedly with a different passport than the one he was ordered to surrender to authorities. 

The FBI’s criminal complaint says former University of Michigan student Haoxiang Gao used his student ID to register to vote and did in-person early voting, CBS News Detroit reported on Sunday. 

School officials reportedly asked the student if he illegally voted. He admitted that he registered to vote with his student ID and cast an early vote on Oct. 27. 

He reported himself to law enforcement, but local election officials said the vote was still counted because there is nothing to be done after a ballot goes through a tabulator. He was charged with illegally voting and perjury for falsely stating in an affidavit that he was a U.S. citizen when registering to vote.

A judge ordered him to surrender his Chinese passport and not to leave Michigan. The passport surrendered had a serial number ending in 1332. However, CBS News Detroit reported, Gao flew out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Shanghai, China, on Jan. 19 using a Chinese passport in his name with a serial number ending in 7137.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gao in April after he missed two court hearings, The Associated Press reported.

The Chinese national’s vote prompted Republican leadership in the Michigan House of Representatives to propose a state constitutional amendment to ensure that only citizens vote. 

Michigan state Rep. Bryan Posthumus, the GOP floor leader, told The Daily Signal in December: “They can no longer say this is a right-wing conspiracy theory. A foreign national voted in Michigan. The reason we know he voted is because he stood up and told on himself. Now that people know it can be done, what’s to stop others from trying to illegally vote again?”

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office later reported that at least 15 individuals voted in the 2024 election who may be noncitizens.