An Oakland County resident is set to stand trial in circuit court after state prosecutors alleged that she submitted a fraudulent online voter registration form on behalf of her non-citizen spouse prior to the 2024 presidential election.
Kimberley DiDonato, a 60-year-old resident of Rose Township, had her case formally bound over to the Oakland County Circuit Court following preliminary legal proceedings, according to an official announcement released by the Michigan Attorney General's Office.
State authorities have charged DiDonato with two separate felony counts in connection with the alleged voting application. She faces one count of election forgery, a felony that carries a potential statutory penalty of up to five years of imprisonment upon conviction. Additionally, prosecutors charged her with one count of using a computer to commit a crime, a felony offense carrying a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison.
Following the judicial determination to transfer the case to the county circuit court, DiDonato is scheduled to appear before a judge for her formal circuit court arraignment on Sept. 22. DiDonato’s defense counsel, attorney Kevin Kijewski, was not immediately available to provide comment regarding the pending charges or the upcoming court date.
The criminal accusations stem from events that unfolded during the spring of 2024 as election officials prepared for the November presidential race. Investigators allege that DiDonato accessed the state’s online voter registration system in April 2024, where she posed as her husband and submitted his personal identifying information into the digital platform.
During that registration process, prosecutors assert that DiDonato falsely declared that her husband held American citizenship. While DiDonato is an American citizen, her spouse is a lawful permanent resident holding green card status. Under state and federal election statutes, lawful permanent residents are strictly prohibited from registering to vote or participating in any state or federal elections.
The situation progressed after state election systems processed the electronic submission and subsequently mailed out an official voter identification card. Authorities confirmed that once DiDonato received the voter registration card at her home, she personally contacted the Rose Township clerk’s office in May 2024 to formally request the cancellation of the newly issued registration.
When questioned by authorities about the circumstances surrounding the online filing, DiDonato offered an explanation regarding her intentions. According to state prosecutors, DiDonato claimed that she had carried out the registration process as an independent test to determine whether the state’s digital election infrastructure contained security vulnerabilities that could allow ineligible individuals to successfully register.
The formal charges against DiDonato were initiated by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel as part of a broader review of election-related offenses. Nessel’s office originally announced the charges against the Rose Township resident alongside separate legal actions taken against five non-citizens who were accused of unlawfully casting ballots in Michigan during the 2024 election.
In a public statement regarding the case, Attorney General Nessel stressed the critical necessity of enforcing state statutes to preserve public confidence in the integrity of democratic institutions. Nessel noted that maintaining trust across the voting system requires holding individuals legally accountable, even in the relatively infrequent instances when election laws are broken.
The attorney general also expressed satisfaction with the court's decision to bind the charges over for trial. Nessel emphasized that her office will continue to uphold its statutory obligation to thoroughly investigate all credible allegations of Michigan Election Law violations and seek appropriate criminal penalties against those who violate the state's voting rules.
DiDonato’s prosecution represents one of several legal actions undertaken by Michigan law enforcement authorities to address election violations across the state. Earlier, a municipal councilmember in Hamtramck was sentenced to serve a term of probation and perform community service after being convicted of a misdemeanor offense for making a false statement on an absentee ballot application.
In another significant election integrity case concluded in March, a ringleader involved in a widespread signature collection fraud scheme received a substantial prison term. That defendant, one of two men convicted of orchestrating a large-scale petition fraud operation that resulted in multiple candidates being disqualified from the August 2022 primary ballot, was sentenced to serve at least four years and up to 20 years in state prison.
With DiDonato's arraignment scheduled for late September, the upcoming circuit court proceedings will test the viability of the defendant's unauthorized testing defense against the state's strict enforcement of digital election security and voter eligibility statutes.
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