Two men who are not U.S. citizens have been indicted on federal charges in West Tennessee over allegations that they voted illegally, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee announced.
Cesar Sanchez Correa, 44, a citizen of Mexico, is accused of voting in Haywood County in the 2024 election. Andreas Van Der Werf, 62, a citizen of Germany, is accused of voting in Fayette County in both the 2022 and 2024 elections. Prosecutors allege that both men falsely claimed to be U.S. citizens on Tennessee voter registration applications.
The charges
Sanchez Correa faces one count of unlawful voting by an alien under federal law, and Van Der Werf faces two counts. Federal law limits voting in elections that include candidates for president, vice president, the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House to U.S. citizens, and those elections in 2022 and 2024 included federal races.
The cases were investigated by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Tennessee Secretary of State's office, and will be prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Western District of Tennessee. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said the Justice Department will continue to prosecute illegal voting. A Homeland Security Investigations official said the agency takes election-law violations seriously.
What the announcement does not say
FOX 13 Memphis noted that the Justice Department's announcement did not say when the indictments were returned, whether either man has appeared in court, or whether trial dates have been set. Prosecutors also did not allege that the two men acted together or that their alleged conduct changed the outcome of any election.
An indictment is an accusation, not a finding of guilt. Both men are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.
Timing
The announcement came on the eve of Tennessee's midterm election. Haywood and Fayette counties both saw large increases in early voting this year compared with 2022, according to state figures. Voters in Tennessee must be U.S. citizens to register and vote, and polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time on Tuesday.
Sources: WBBJ, FOX 13 Memphis, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee as reported by those outlets