Australian woman accused of illegally voting in US faces jury trial

A Sydney woman will face trial in the US state of Louisiana after being accused of falsely claiming to be a US citizen and voting illegally in two federal elections.

Denise Nataly Migliore, 51, has been charged with two counts of making a false statement and two counts of fraudulent voting following her arrest in New Orleans earlier this month.

According to the federal indictment, prosecutors allege Ms Migliore knowingly made a false claim that she was a US citizen in October 2022 and October 2024 in order to cast fraudulent votes in the last two presidential elections.

At the time, the US Attorney's Office said, Ms Migliore was a legal permanent resident.

The indictment alleges she "knowingly and wilfully" defrauded Louisiana residents of "a fair and impartially conducted election process" by casting a ballot she allegedly knew was "materially false and fraudulent".

Ms Migliore is set to face a Louisiana jury in September. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

In a statement to the ABC, Ms Migliore said she was "just devastated that this is happening to an Australian".

Arrest comes after US crackdown on non-citizen voting

The 51-year-old had been living in the small town of Franklinton in northern Louisiana after moving to the US from Australia.

She previously told US media she thought legal permanent residents could vote, and did not realise casting a ballot would be illegal.

"I have been here almost three decades, I had a pending application for citizenship, and I just considered myself a citizen," Ms Migliore told Louisiana news outlet NOLA last month, after she was indicted.

"I just didn't realise that it was such a big deal."

Ms Migliore told NOLA she had been encouraged by the state to register to vote, and said nobody stopped her when she signed up or when she cast her ballot.

She said when she went to vote in the 2024 election, workers were "very polite" and scanned her ID card, but did not ask whether she was a citizen.

"I feel like I'm being used as a guinea pig to show how flawed the electoral system is, and I'm being unfairly targeted," she told NOLA.

The case comes as the Trump administration has made non-citizen voting a major enforcement priority, despite election officials and multiple studies consistently finding such cases are exceedingly rare.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump threatened to withhold some federal funding from states that did not make changes to voting practices.

He also warned state election officials they could face arrest if they did not remove non-citizens from voter rolls.

The US president posted about Ms Migliore's case on his Truth Social account after she was arrested.

"Australian alien arrested after investigation finds she illegally voted in two federal elections," he wrote, with a link to a news article about the investigation.

It comes less than four months from crucial midterm elections, where Democrats seek to take control of both the House and the Senate, which would serve as a check on Mr Trump's power within Congress.

Earlier this week, an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian facing legal action in the United States.