Federal authorities arrested Sanata Coulibaly, a Senegalese national and lawful permanent resident, alleging that she falsely claimed to be a US citizen and voted in several New Jersey elections. The case has intensified an existing dispute between Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill’s administration and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement, election security and access to state voter rolls.

According to prosecutors, Coulibaly allegedly voted in the 2018 midterm, the July 2020 primary, the November 2020 general election and the 2024 general election, while also denying previous voting activity on her naturalisation application. The arrest follows a software error that registered about 6,600 people who identified as non-citizens, although New Jersey later found that fewer than 400 of those affected had voted; the Justice Department says the wider federal effort has produced election-related charges against 16 people across several states.