Less than a week from the most important presidential election in modern U.S. history, there have already been charges filed regarding the breaking of voter laws.

According to The Detroit News, an especially egregious incident was reported in the battleground state of Michigan involving a Chinese student, who's not a U.S. citizen, casting a vote for the upcoming election. And the vote will count. 

The student wasn't identified, and was in the United States legally, however, as a non-citizen, he was not allowed to vote in the election.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's office released a joint statement on the matter announcing the charges that the Chinese student now faces.

What's going on?

The Chinese student, 19, cast his vote in Ann Arbor, Michigan shortly after registering to vote over the weekend. He falsely identified himself as a U.S. citizen on the registration form.

The outlet noted:

He registered to vote on Sunday using his UM student identification and other documentation establishing residency in Ann Arbor, signed a document identifying himself as a U.S. citizen and his ballot was entered into a tabulator, according to the Secretary of State's office.

According to officials, the vote was cast as a part of early voting at the University of Michigan Museum of Art on State Street.

While it's bad enough that the Chinese national lied on his voter registration form, even worse was the revelation that his illegal vote would count.

The outlet added:

The student's ballot is expected to count in the upcoming election — although it was illegally cast — because there is no way for election officials to retrieve it once it's been put through a tabulator, according to two sources familiar with Michigan election laws. The setup is meant to prevent ballots from being tracked back to an individual voter.

The news sparked outrage across social media, with many wondering how many times that's already happened in this election and in past elections.

Statement released

Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit issued a statement regarding the situation.

"We’re grateful for the swift action of the clerk in this case, who took the appropriate steps and referred the case to law enforcement," the joint statement read. "We are also grateful to law enforcement for swiftly and thoroughly investigating this case."

They added, "Anyone who attempts to vote illegally faces significant consequences, including but not limited to arrest and prosecution."

Hopefully, they make an example out of the illegal voter to deter others from doing the same.