Prosecutors are finding it difficult to turn voter fraud claims into criminal charges, with few cases being brought against noncitizens who vote illegally. According to current and former officials, President Donald Trump’s pressure on federal prosecutors to charge noncitizens with voting illegally has produced just a handful of cases.

Voter Fraud Investigations

The Justice Department has investigated and then declined to prosecute cases in which noncitizens mistakenly registered to vote because they did not speak English well or understand the law. In at least one instance, a noncitizen with Alzheimer’s disease registered to vote, complicating the prospects of charging that case.

Prosecutors typically assume a jury would not convict someone if they accidentally or mistakenly cast a ballot. That raises the bar for bringing charges even in the relatively rare instances when noncitizens do vote. The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security have worked together closely to try to match voter rolls with citizenship lists to see whether they can identify noncitizens who voted.

Challenges in Prosecuting Voter Fraud

Prosecutors do not have to prove intent in cases accusing a person of voting illegally, but they are wary of prosecuting without evidence of intent because the defendants are generally sympathetic, making it hard to persuade juries to convict. Noncitizens who cast ballots often do so because they mistakenly thought they were eligible or an election official wrongly told them they could.

Legal experts said there are few prosecutions of noncitizens who register or vote because the cases are tricky to prosecute and the crime itself is so rare. A noncitizen illegally casting a vote is considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.