LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) — Three residents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s region—two from Selinsgrove and one from Luzerne—are among nine people charged with illegally voting in Pennsylvania elections.
Federal prosecutors allege Joyce Donovan, 38, and Nina Nyawara, 21, both of Selinsgrove, voted in the 2024 general election despite not being U.S. citizens. Nourten Kuruju, 64, of Luzerne, is accused of voting in the 2022 general election.
The charges say Donovan and Nyawara are citizens of Kenya and lawful permanent U.S. residents. Kuruju is described as a citizen of Greece and lawful permanent U.S. resident. Each faces one count of voting by an alien. The cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.
The Pennsylvania Department of State says noncitizen voting is extremely rare in Pennsylvania and that there is no evidence of systemic voter fraud.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of one year in prison, a fine, or both.