Federal agents arrested a Peruvian national accused of falsely claiming American citizenship and casting a ballot in the 2024 presidential election. Mariana Alexandra Dewey allegedly registered and voted in Kansas despite being a lawful permanent resident rather than a United States citizen. A federal grand jury has now indicted the 24 year old Wichita resident on four criminal counts connected to the alleged election offense.
Homeland Security Investigations special agents located Dewey at a Wichita residence and arrested her on September 1st. The charges followed an investigation into her registration and ballot from the November 5th, 2024, general election in Sedgwick County. Federal prosecutors announced the indictment on September 10th, and Dewey was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge on September 14th.
An investigator first contacted Dewey in April after she moved to a different address. Dewey initially told the investigator that she was a United States citizen, according to information obtained by the Daily Caller. She later clarified that she was a Peruvian citizen and lawful permanent resident before allegedly acknowledging that she’d voted in the 2024 election.
Investigators examined records from the Hope Church polling location where Dewey allegedly cast her ballot. As the Daily Caller reported, the records showed that Dewey allegedly signed a provisional pollbook and submitted a Kansas voter-registration application identifying herself as an American citizen. Prosecutors said the ballot included races for president, vice president, the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, and state and local offices.
The indictment charges Dewey with one count of making a false claim of citizenship, one count of falsely claiming United States citizenship to vote, one count of fraudulent election conduct, and one count of voting as an alien in a federal election. Prosecutors allege that Dewey falsely certified she was an eligible citizen when registering and then again when casting her ballot.
“The Department of Justice remains committed to protecting election integrity and is actively investigating and prosecuting these cases,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said. Kriegshauser warned that people found by a court to have falsely claimed citizenship and voted or attempted to vote could face serious criminal consequences. Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Fadler is prosecuting the case following the HSI investigation.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the arrest provides another answer to those who dismiss concerns about noncitizen voting. “Despite extreme Democrats and the media claiming it never happens, the evidence of non-citizens registering and voting in our elections continues to pile up,” Bis told the Daily Caller. She added that noncitizens caught registering or voting would be arrested and held accountable because only American citizens should choose the country’s leaders.
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The case arrives as President Donald Trump continues pressing congressional Republicans to advance the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of US citizenship to register for federal elections and showing photo ID when voting. House Speaker Mike Johnson recently said Republicans could attempt to place the proposal in a reconciliation package, which he said would avoid the usual 60-vote threshold in the Senate.