An illegal alien from Africa was arrested last week in Philadelphia for allegedly falsely claiming citizenship to cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election. The case demolishes the Democrat party's favorite talking point: that illegal immigrant voting is a "myth," an "extremist white supremacist agenda," or "Jim Crow 2.0."
Far from it. Authorities claim the 50-year-old suspect, Mauritanian national Mahady Sacko, didn't just vote once. He allegedly voted as a registered Democrat in every election since 2008.
A man ordered removed from the country more than two decades ago, still here, still casting ballots, for sixteen years.
ICE and the FBI allege Sacko "falsely represented that he was a US citizen to vote and register to vote" in the last presidential election.
Sacko's response: "Everything is a lie! They are lying about me!"
His arrest is one of nearly a dozen cases uncovered by The New York Post of non-citizens allegedly voting in U.S. elections.
The cases aren't hypothetical. They come with names, court dates, and guilty pleas.
J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, told The Post that the problem is real but defies easy conspiracy narratives:
"The reality is aliens are voting in American elections."
"It's way worse than the left says, but it's way better than some others say."
Adams pointed to systemic failures, not coordinated plots. People get swept into voter rolls through DMV interactions and clipboard-wielding registrars at public events. Pennsylvania, he said, stands out for disastrous alien voter registration. The state's "motor voter" system has inadvertently allowed approximately 100,000 non-citizens to register to vote, though some state officials dispute that number.
Adams captured the frustration precisely:
"I wish it were a conspiracy plot because it would be easier to bust. This is systemic failure."
There were about 14 million people in the country legally, but who are not citizens in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center. That figure doesn't include the millions here illegally. The current system asks these millions of people to voluntarily decline to register when the government's own machinery nudges them toward it. That's not election security. That's an honor system with no enforcement.
Gao's case deserves particular attention. A Chinese national charged with voting illegally, who surrendered one passport to a judge, then used a second passport with a different serial number to flee the country. He is still registered as an active voter in Michigan. He is wanted by U.S. authorities. He is in China.
No system flagged the second passport. No mechanism prevented his departure. No process deactivated his voter registration after he was charged with a federal crime. Every layer of supposed safeguarding failed.
It's worth noting that non-citizen voting isn't exclusively a Democratic Party problem in terms of registration. Zlata Risley, a 50-year-old Kazakhstani lawful resident who was not a citizen, registered as a Republican and voted illegally in the 2024 election. She pleaded guilty and received probation. Akeel Abdul Jamiel, a 45-year-old Iraqi national who registered with the Conservative Party, was charged last April with illegally voting in the 2020 election. In 2019, he tried to sue then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over the negative impact of illegal immigration, claiming the U.S. was "under invasion."
The issue isn't which party benefits. The issue is that non-citizens are casting ballots at all, and the system has no reliable mechanism to stop them. Every illegal vote, regardless of which candidate it supports, cancels out the vote of a citizen. The principle doesn't bend based on partisan outcome.
The SAVE America Act would mandate proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or enhanced driver's license, to register to vote in federal elections. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the bill in the House, where it passed. President Trump has escalated pressure on the Senate by threatening to refuse to sign any other bills until it passes.
Roy told The Post the path forward is clear:
"Americans want voter ID and the guarantee that only citizens are voting in our elections. The House has done its job, now it's time for the Senate to show up to work."
"Senators should stand up and defend their positions. If Democrats want to block protections ensuring only citizens vote, they should have to explain that to the American people."
The bill is currently languishing in the Senate, lacking the 60 votes required to overcome a Democrat filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced the Senate will debate the SAVE Act next week, but stated it lacks the votes to pass it.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who co-sponsored the bill, framed the stakes with the precision the moment requires:
"Every few weeks, we learn that 'the thing that never happens' has happened again."
"In tight down-ballot races, even hundreds of illegal votes can swing an election, and every illegal vote cast is an attack on a legitimate vote cast by a real citizen."
Polling shows the SAVE Act is extremely popular with voters, garnering over 70% support, with even half of Democrats in favor. The question isn't whether the public wants this. It's whether Senate Democrats will filibuster a bill their own voters support, then go home and claim non-citizen voting doesn't exist.
For anyone who still insists this is a trivial problem: Boca Raton, Florida's new mayor, won by just five votes after a recount on Friday.
Five votes. One Mahady Sacko, voting in every election since 2008, casts more influence over American democracy than entire precincts of citizens who stayed home. One Haoxiang Gao, still registered as an active voter in Michigan from a dorm room he fled, represents a vote that cannot be clawed back.
Democrats will filibuster the SAVE Act and call proof-of-citizenship requirements an attack on democracy. They will do this while nearly a dozen prosecutions prove that non-citizens are casting ballots in American elections. They will call it a myth in the same breath that federal prosecutors are securing guilty pleas.
The contradiction isn't subtle. It doesn't require commentary. It just requires you to notice it.
