A Chinese national charged with voting illegally at the University of Michigan has fled the U.S., according to a criminal complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that was unsealed on Friday.
Haoxiang Gao was attending the Ann Arbor-based university in October 2024 and lived on campus, authorities said.
Safety officials with the school spoke with Gao on Oct. 28 after hearing reports that he had unlawfully cast a vote in the 2024 general election, CBS Detroit previously reported. Gao admitted during the conversation that he registered to, and cast, a vote at a polling location on campus on Oct. 27, according to the recently unsealed court documents.
Gao was charged by the state on Oct. 30 with one count each of unauthorized elector attempting to vote and making a false affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration, court records show.
During Gao’s arraignment, a judge ordered him to surrender his Chinese passport and not to leave Michigan. The FBI said in the filing that Gao’s passport was in the possession of school safety officials during the court hearing.
CBS News Detroit has reached out to the university for comment.
Gao has been federally charged with flight to avoid prosecution, though the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China. According to prosecutors, he boarded a Delta flight from Detroit International Airport to Shanghai, China, on Jan. 19 using a Chinese passport in his name.
A warrant for Gao was also issued after he missed court hearings on March 6 and April 24.
The case is among very few instances of noncitizens voting in federal elections in modern history, studies and investigations have found. Analysis by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found 30 cases of noncitizens suspected of voting in the 2024 general election reported by election officials out of 23.5 million votes cast in the 42 jurisdictions reviewed.
contributed to this report.
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