A four-month internal review in one Michigan county identified 239 noncitizens selected for jury duty, including 14 who were registered to vote, prompting calls for database reforms and potential criminal referrals.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
An internal review by the Macomb County Clerk’s Office found that hundreds of noncitizens were selected for jury duty over a four-month period, with a subset also appearing on Michigan’s voter rolls and some allegedly casting ballots, according to an announcement by Anthony G. Forlini.
Forlini announced Monday that noncitizens have been appearing in the county’s jury pool “at an alarming rate,” raising concerns that individuals ineligible under Michigan law may have served on juries and participated in elections.
Speaking during a press conference in the courthouse jury room in Mount Clemens, Michigan, Forlini said an internal review identified 239 noncitizens selected for jury duty between Sept. 5, 2025, and Jan. 8, 2026.
The jury pool is drawn from the Michigan Secretary of State’s driver’s license database, which does not consistently flag citizenship status. As a result, lawful permanent residents and other noncitizens with state-issued driver’s licenses can be included in jury selection lists, Forlini said.
Forlini, who is running for Michigan secretary of state, emphasized that noncitizens are not eligible to serve on juries under state law. After cross-checking the 239 noncitizens against Michigan’s Qualified Voter File, his office found that 14 had been registered to vote at some point, with three individuals appearing to have voted, including one person who voted multiple times.
“This was just one county in Michigan over a four-month period,” Forlini said. “We need to bring these issues to light, we need to be able to show a light on this and say, ‘Hey, there’s a problem.’ Secretary of State offices need to verify all applications against federal databases. I think this is critically important.”
He said the three noncitizens who appear to have voted have been referred to county Corporation Counsel for possible felony charges.
Forlini also expressed concern that the current system relies heavily on self-reporting, meaning noncitizens could serve on juries without being identified, potentially affecting the integrity of jury trials. He pointed to Michigan’s automatic voter registration process, which registers individuals when they apply for a driver’s license unless they opt out, as a possible contributing factor, particularly if applicants misunderstand the citizenship checkbox on state forms.
“Non-citizens are coming through at an alarming rate. Our jury service summons are based on random draws from the driver’s license bank. Frequently non-citizens slip through because citizenship was not flagged in the Secretary of State database,” Forlini said.
He called for improved coordination between state and federal databases to allow more reliable verification of citizenship. “We must find a way for the Driver’s License database to confirm citizenship. Many times there may be a language barrier, and applicants do not understand what they are signing. If this is not addressed, we risk compromising our jury trials and our elections,” he said.
“One possibility is to take advantage of new breakthroughs in linking several databases, where one database is able flag another database for actual citizenship verification,” Forlini added.
The issue has drawn bipartisan attention in Michigan, with former Secretary of State Candice Miller and state Rep. Joe Aragona voicing support for legislative review.
During the press conference, a member of the Macomb County Clerk’s Office said Jocelyn Benson’s office told them “we’re not gonna touch this” when presented with evidence of noncitizens appearing in the jury pool and on voter rolls. Benson, who is running for governor of Michigan, has declined to provide unredacted voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing that “nobody—not the president, the DOJ or any other federal agency has the right to your sensitive, private voter information.”
Critics have countered that Benson has previously shared full voter roll data with nongovernmental organizations such as the Electronic Registration Information Center and Rock the Vote, raising questions about consistency in her privacy position.
The Justice Department has sued 23 states and Washington, D.C., over alleged failures to comply with federal requests for voter roll data. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, has argued that access to complete voter registration data is necessary to ensure election integrity and prevent vote dilution.
“Why won’t they cooperate and let us help them clean up the rolls?! What else are they hiding?!” Dhillon wrote on X Monday evening.
Footage of the Macomb County press conference was also posted in a recorded video, where officials outlined the findings and reiterated calls for systemic changes to Michigan’s voter and jury selection databases.
Original article
Comments