64-year-old Hudson County resident charged with voting illegally in federal elections
Coulibaly registered to vote via a paper application at the Office of the Hudson County Superintendent of Elections.
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A Hudson County woman has been charged in federal court after allegedly voting illegally in multiple elections and making false statements during her U.S. citizenship application.
Sanata Coulibaly, 64, was charged in a criminal complaint with voting in a federal election as a non-citizen and making false statements on a citizenship application. She made her initial court appearance on Wednesday, , before a Newark federal judge.
According to federal prosecutors, Coulibaly registered to vote via a paper application at the Office of the Hudson County Superintendent of Elections, falsely certifying under penalty of perjury that she was a United States citizen.
Court documents state Coulibaly—who originally entered the U.S. from Senegal on a B-1 non-immigrant visa—cast ballots in four separate federal elections: the November 2018 mid-terms, the July 2020 primary election, the November 2020 general election, and the 2024 general election.
Investigators further allege that in October 2024, Coulibaly submitted an N-400 application for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen. On that application, she allegedly swore under penalty of perjury that she had never registered to vote or cast a ballot in any federal election.
If convicted, Coulibaly faces a maximum potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison for making false statements on a citizenship application, and up to one year in prison for voting as a non-citizen.
