Chinese national accused of illegally voting in 2024 fled US before Trump’s return to office, feds say

A Chinese national allegedly voted in the last presidential election and fled the country one day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration into office, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Haoxiang Gao, a Chinese man attending the University of Michigan at the time, unlawfully registered to vote and cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election in Ann Arbor, Michigan, federal prosecutors are alleging in a new indictment. The DOJ suspects he was able to register his name by using his University of Michigan student ID and then lied about his citizenship on his voter registration application.

“Illegal voting is a serious crime that casts doubt on our elections and serves to disenfranchise United States citizens by diluting their power at the ballot box,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said Tuesday in a prepared statement. “But illegal voting by a foreign national who is from a country controlled by a communist party dictatorship with no modern history or tradition of democratic government is beyond the pale.”

The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office and the Michigan Secretary of State’s office first revealed in October that an unnamed Chinese national had illegally voted, just days before the 2024 presidential election between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. However, few details about the identity of the individual were provided at the time.

Upon being slapped with state offenses, Gao was granted a $5,000 personal bond by a state court with conditions, which included that he surrender his passport and he remain within Michigan state lines for the duration of his case, according to the DOJ. While Gao did hand over his passport, he allegedly jumped bail and fled the U.S. on a flight bound for Shanghai, China, on Jan. 19, one day before Trump’s second presidential inauguration.

Gao was able to pass through Detroit Metropolitan Airport security using a People’s Republic of China passport in his name, but bearing a different number from the passport he handed over to the University of Michigan police, according to Customs and Border Protection records.

Based on the allegation that he jumped bond and left the U.S. in order to avoid the state charges against him, Gao is now charged with the federal offense of flight to avoid prosecution, the DOJ stated.

“The federal charges filed against Haoxiang Gao, a Chinese national, serve as a clear and unequivocal reminder that the FBI will investigate anyone who attempts to unlawfully interfere with the electoral process in the United States,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said of the case. “The FBI treats all allegations of voter fraud with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to holding accountable those who violate our election laws.”

The federal charges are the latest in a string of high-profile cases the Trump administration is pursuing against foreign nationals who allegedly participated in U.S. elections.

The Trump administration in April charged two Ukrainian nationals — 53-year-old Svitlana Demydenko and her 22-year-old daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko — with illegally voting in the 2024 presidential election. Akeel Abdul Jamiel — a 45-year-old Iraqi citizen — was also accused by federal prosecutors that same month of voting in the 2020 presidential election.

Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, a 59-year-old illegal migrant residing in Boston, lived in the U.S. for over 20 years under a stolen identity and improperly received around $400,000 in rental assistance, Social Security, and food stamp benefits, prosecutors alleged earlier in May. The indictment against Hernandez says she not only voted in the 2024 presidential election, but had been registered to vote since January 2023.

In March, Trump signed the “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” an executive order designed to keep elections in compliance with federal laws that protect against illegal voting, discrimination, and other forms of fraud. Doubling down on these efforts, the administration in May rolled out a new feature for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which allows state and local officials to input Social Security numbers for verification of U.S. citizenship, helping prevent foreign nationals from participating in U.S. elections.

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