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LiberalArkie

(19,012 posts)
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 07:09 AM 7 hrs ago

Three non-citizens arrested, charged with illegally voting in Arkansas elections

October 2, 2025

Authorities with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office this week arrested three non-citizens who cast ballots illegally in elections last year, he announced in a Thursday news conference.

The three women, who lived in different cities and came from different countries, were arrested after investigators followed up on a tip from federal authorities about possible illegal voting in the state, Griffin said.

Authorities arrested Cecelia Castellanos, 59, of Rogers, who is from Cuba; Zlata Risley, 50, of Hot Springs, who is from Kazakhstan; and Chi Baum, 59, of Texarkana, who is from Nigeria, a release from Griffin's office states. Authorities arrested Castellanos and Baum on Tuesday and Risley on Wednesday.

Snip

Authorities determined Castellanos and Baum voted illegally in the 2024 general election, while Risley voted illegally in the February 2024 Republican primary, Griffin said.

Snip

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/oct/02/three-non-citizens-arrested-for-illegal-voting-in/

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Botany

(75,439 posts)
4. So how did those people vote? You can only vote and have your vote counted if you are a registered voter.
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:03 AM
6 hrs ago

Voting early by absentee ballot? To get an absentee ballot you need to be a registered voter.

Voting early either on paper or on a machine? You need to be a registered voter and have I.D.

Voting on Election Day either on paper or on a machine. You need to be a registered voter and have I.D..

Something about these prosecutions doesn’t pass my smell test.

RazorbackExpat

(628 posts)
5. My guess would be that they asked a registered voter who didn't want to vote
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:20 AM
6 hrs ago

for their absentee ballot. Then bragged to friends and acquaintances that they voted, and someone tattled on them?

But then again, it could just be yet another pile of bovine excrement

Botany

(75,439 posts)
6. If someone goes through the trouble of asking for an absentee ballot it is very unlikely they would give it ....
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:29 AM
6 hrs ago

…. away. This is suppression of the vote 101. Arrest some people for the crime of voting and
other people particularly minorities get afraid to vote. DeSantis has done this in Florida too.

RazorbackExpat

(628 posts)
8. I agree that you have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get an absentee ballot
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:50 AM
5 hrs ago

And you are most likely correct that there is something fishy going on here.

LiberalArkie

(19,012 posts)
7. Probably just registered and lied and said they were a U.S. citizen.
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 08:40 AM
5 hrs ago
https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/elections/ArkansasVoterRegistrationApplication.pdf

I am getting to the point of where I am thinking about opposing the voter registration drives that us Democrats have done for a long time.
We increase the number of voters and at the same time register people who were never interested in our system of government to take the time to participate in it.

LiberalArkie

(19,012 posts)
10. It has been just my drivers license for most of my life. I have a realID now so that makes it easier I think.
Sat Oct 4, 2025, 09:39 AM
4 hrs ago

Of course when I move, I always go and change my voter registration . But the last time was when I moved to this area back in 1993.
I did not have a copy of my birth certificate at that time, so I guess they just took my word for it,
https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/elections/ArkansasVoterRegistrationApplication.pdf


(A) Are you a citizen of the United States of America and an Arkansas resident?
c Yes c No
(B) Will you be eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before election day?
c Yes c No
(C) Are you presently adjudged mentally incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction?
c Yes c No
(D) Have you ever been convicted of a felony without your sentence having been
discharged or pardoned?
c Yes c No
If you checked No in response to either questions A or B, do not complete this form.
If you checked Yes in response to either questions C or D, do not complete this form

This seems to be it for the current registration. So I guess someone can lie and get registration and then a clerk at the polls can just fail to check for id.

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