Filipino National Charged With Unlawfully Voting in U.S. Election

HONOLULU — Remedios Alasaas, a 66-year-old Filipino national living in Kahului, Maui, was charged June 1, 2026, by Information with unlawfully voting as an alien, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii announced the same day.

The single-count charging document filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii alleges that Alasaas, who is not a U.S. citizen, cast a ballot in a federal election in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 611. The statute prohibits noncitizens from voting in elections for president, vice president, presidential elector, member of Congress, or other federal offices.

Scope of the prohibition covers every noncitizen physically present in the United States, regardless of immigration status. Federal voter registration forms require applicants to swear under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. Hawaii’s voter rolls, like those in every state, are cross-checked against federal databases including the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program to flag potential noncitizen registrations.

The charge changes the prior state in which Alasaas faced no public federal charges to one in which she must appear in district court, enter a plea, and face potential penalties of up to one year in prison, a fine, or both upon conviction. Arraignment and any subsequent trial or plea proceedings will now be scheduled under the Speedy Trial Act’s 70-day clock from the date of initial appearance.

Downstream, the Department of Justice must either secure a conviction at trial or negotiate a plea agreement that may include deportation proceedings triggered by a criminal conviction. Immigration and Customs Enforcement gains authority to initiate removal proceedings against Alasaas if she is convicted, because unlawful voting is an aggravated felony under immigration law that renders a noncitizen deportable.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu will also be required to report the disposition to the Election Assistance Commission, which tracks election crimes nationwide.

This is the latest federal prosecution of an individual alien voting case brought by the Department of Justice. The department has pursued similar charges in multiple districts in recent years under 18 U.S.C. § 611 following referrals from state election officials who identified noncitizen registration attempts during routine database matching.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice