Photo by Austin Carey for The Lafayette
Evelyn Miller faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for illegally voting in the 2024 general election.
A Lehigh County woman who pleaded guilty to illegally voting in the 2024 general election is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16.
Evelyn Miller, a Filipino citizen lawfully residing in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, faces a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case has been handled and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
Documented cases of noncitizen voting are rare. There have been 89 proven cases of noncitizens voting since 2000, or roughly 0.0001% of total votes cast, according to a 2024 review by the American Immigration Council, a national immigrants’ rights organization.
A representative from the Department of Justice declined to comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not publicly released details explaining how Miller was identified or how she was able to register to vote.
John Kincaid, a Government & Law professor who researches American government and politics, said available evidence does not indicate noncitizen voting occurs at a magnitude large enough to significantly affect election outcomes.
“I think that the federal involvement here is an effort to make an example of this woman to try to demonstrate the administration’s contention that we do in fact have noncitizens voting and affecting elections,” Kincaid said.