A Chinese man illegally cast a ballot in last year’s presidential election then scrambled to try to take it back after he started “freaking out” about having broken the law, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Haoxiang Gao, who was here on a green card studying at the University of Michigan, registered to vote and then immediately cast a ballot on Oct. 27.

He then called the city clerk’s office in Ann Arbor and asked if what he’d done was illegal. When told only citizens could vote, he asked if he could “pull back” his vote, and told the clerk’s office he was “freaking out because I wasn’t supposed to vote,” according to court documents.

Mr. Gao then fled the U.S. in January, using a secret passport authorities didn’t know about.

Under federal law, only U.S. citizens are allowed to cast ballots in national elections.

Mr. Gao stands charged with making a false statement to register to vote, voting by an alien and flight to avoid prosecution.

“Illegal voting is a serious crime that casts doubt on our elections and serves to disenfranchise United States citizens by diluting their power at the ballot box. But illegal voting by a foreign national who is from a country controlled by a communist party dictatorship – with no modern history or tradition of democratic government – is beyond the pale,” said Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the U.S. attorney in Detroit.

He said the prosecution should “send a message” to noncitizens, and particularly students, not to vote in U.S. elections.

Mr. Gao was studying at the University of Michigan last fall at the time of the election and, according to court documents, was able to use his student ID to register to vote.

He signed both the registration card and his early voting card affirming that he was a citizen, and later told investigators he knew he’d made those affirmations.

He said his call to the clerk’s office was an attempt to “make things right” by trying to revoke his cast ballot.

His roommate later told investigators that Mr. Gao had talked about going to vote, and after casting his ballot, had posted a message about it to WeChat, a Chinese social media application. Someone informed him that what he’d done was illegal, the roommate said.

Michigan authorities obtained a warrant and Mr. Gao turned himself in and turned over a passport. He had a hearing slated for Jan. 16, but it was delayed. Three days later, on Jan. 19, Mr. Gao took a flight from Detroit to Shanghai using a second passport.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.