August 8, 2026 – Undercover video shows non-U.S. citizens from Iran allowed to vote in Michigan primary without ID

In Email/Dossier/Govt Corruption Investigations, Featured Timeline Entries by Katie Weddington

Undercover Video Shows Non-U.S. Citizens from Iran Allowed to Vote in Michigan Primary Without ID

The Non-Citizens Allowed to Vote Are Sex Offenders, on DHS’s “Worst of the Worst” List, and Previously Arrested by ICE

Iranian Subject Confirms With OMG He Voted in the Last Three Elections and Intends to Vote on Primary Day

“All I know is you’re [Afshin Masheli] registered to vote here. The rest of the information is not important to me.”

“Yes, this is the right place. You [Fazlollah Haritash] are registered to vote here.”

OMG’s undercover journalists investigated two Michigan registered voters identified as non-U.S. citizens in federal court and DHS records. One of them, Afshin Masheli, is identified in federal court records as an Iranian national and non-U.S. citizen. DHS has previously featured Masheli on its publicly released “Worst of the Worst” list, which highlights noncitizens arrested by ICE for serious criminal offenses. According to United States District Court records, Masheli is a registered sex offender.

OMG proved that at Masheli’s assigned polling location, election workers confirmed a voter registration under his name appeared in the poll book and stated that a registered voter listed there could cast a ballot. Our undercover journalist spoke to Afshin Masheli himself and Masheli said he planned to vote later that day.

Our investigation also identified another registered voter, Fazlollah Haritash, whose federal records identify him as a non-U.S. citizen. Public court records and Michigan’s public sex offender registry showing the criminal convictions, and the registry lists him as incarcerated. At the polling location associated with Fazlollah Haritash’s voter registration, an election worker confirmed that a voter registration under his name appeared on Michigan’s voter rolls.

On July 6, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson stating that knowingly retaining noncitizens on Michigan’s statewide voter registration list, issuing ballots to them, and counting those ballots violate Section 12(2)(B) of the National Voter Registration Act. The letter urged the state to ensure its voter rolls comply with federal law.

Michigan law limits voting to eligible U.S. citizens. This investigation should make you question how U.S. voter registration records are maintained and whether individuals identified in federal records as non-U.S. citizens remain registered to vote.

O’Keefe Media Group has contacted the Michigan Secretary of State, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the Department of Justice for comment and will update this report with any responses.

If you’ve witnessed fraud in your community or have information, email tips@okeefemediagroup.com or message us securely on Signal: 914-491-9395.

EXCLUSIVE: Stunning Report — 6 Non-Citizens on DHS “Worst of the Worst Criminal Aliens” List Are Registered Voters in Michigan — 2 Voted in Multiple Elections

Excerpt from Gateway Pundit article:

Meet AFSHIN MASHELI – A green card holder and rapist from Iran. Afshin is on the DHS “Worst of the Worst” List.

He was arrested on Feb. 25, 2003, for First Degree Criminal Sexual Assault and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years to 50 years, then resentenced to 5 1/2 to 25 years. He was released from jail, but there is no record of when. Afshin Masheli was arrested again on June 25, 2025, by ICE while living at 8837 Gary St, Dearborn, the same address where he is registered to vote in Michigan.

(Timeline editor’s note: Masheli’s race is listed as being White)

Not only is Afshin illegally registered to vote, but he is also a regular voter. According to CMV (Check My Vote), which pulls records directly from the monthly Michigan Secretary of State’s QVF (Qualified Voter File), he has voted in at least 3 federal elections in Michigan. Ashfin Masheli registered to vote in 2013. He voted in person in 2016, by absentee ballot in 2020, and again in the 2024 general election. Green card holders are NOT US citizens, and it’s against the law for anyone other than a US citizen to vote in our elections. It’s a felony for a non- citizen to vote in a federal election.

Masheli is a native and citizen of Iran who was admitted to the United States on December 19, 1991, in Chicago, Illinois, on a visitor’s visa, with authorization to remain until June 19, 1992. On May 24, 1993, he was convicted of first-degree retail fraud in the 20th Circuit Court in Grand Haven, Michigan. On October 29, 1993, Afshin Masheli was granted advance parole to travel to Mexico to complete his application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident status. On November 12, 1993, he was paroled into the United States at El Paso, Texas, and on July 26, 1995, Masheli became a lawful permanent resident.

On February 25, 2003, Afshin Masheli “was convicted in the 17th Circuit Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the offense of Criminal Sexual Conduct – 1st Degree (Personal Injury), as well as for the offense of “Criminal Sexual Conduct – 3rd Degree.” Masheli received prison sentences of “between 5 years and 6 months to 50 years” and “between 3 years to 15 years.”

As a result of the convictions, the Iranian citizen was charged with removability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). On May 25, 2005, an immigration judge in the Detroit Immigration Court denied his applications for relief and ordered him removed to Iran. Masheli’s subsequent appeal was denied on July 3, 2007, resulting in a final order of removal to Iran.

According to public records, Ashfin’s deportation has been stalled for years, and the court ordered his release in January 2026 because Iran has long refused to cooperate with the repatriation of its nationals, especially those with criminal convictions.

Masheli’s case reveals a well-documented, long-standing problem that predates recent tensions with Iran, which rarely issues travel documents or accepts deportees from the United States, particularly convicted felons.

The court (Magistrate Judge Phillip J. Green) applied the Supreme Court’s Zadvydas v. Davis ruling, which says that once a final removal order has been in place for 6 months and there is “good reason to believe” removal is not reasonably foreseeable, the person must generally be released from detention. The judge found that Iran’s historical non-cooperation made removal unlikely in the foreseeable future.