Two Indians Among 28 Charged In California Voting Fraud Case, Says US DOJ

The US Department of Justice stated on Monday that 28 green card holders in California were charged over alleged voter-registration fraud and illegal voting, a move that came just before the November midterm elections. All 28 are lawful permanent residents. They may stay in the United States, but they are barred from voting in federal elections.

The defendants include Amandeep Kaur, 30, of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County, and Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67, of Sacramento. Prosecutors say Kaur, who is seeking US citizenship, registered to vote in December 2022 and later cast a ballot in the November 2024 presidential election, while Shah is accused of registering and voting on the same day in the 2024 general election.

The Justice Department moved on the case as election-integrity scrutiny picked up again in the lead-up to the midterms.

Accused Indians Identified

Prosecutors say Kaur, 30, of Rancho Palos Verdes, signed up to vote in December 2022 and later voted in the 2024 presidential election. Shah, 67, of Sacramento, is accused of registering and voting on election day during the November 2024 general election.

Shah was charged through an information, a formal charging document. It was not immediately clear whether Kaur and Shah were among the 11 defendants arrested in pre-dawn operations on Monday.

Those arrests covered only part of the case. In all, prosecutors charged 28 defendants, and the case was unveiled only weeks before the midterms.

Operation Protect The Vote

The case is part of Operation Protect the Vote.

The initiative brings together all four California-based US Attorney's Offices. The Justice Department has described it as a coordinated effort to investigate election fraud and protect electoral integrity across the state.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the defendants surfaced during a broader review of California's electoral rolls. “Each of the 28 defendants charged today appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants we provided to California election officials last week,” McCotter told reporters in Los Angeles.

McCotter also said some people on that list may ultimately be US citizens. That caveat has become central to the dispute with California election authorities.

Charges And Penalties

The defendants are green card holders.

The Justice Department stated: “All 28 foreign nationals charged are lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or 'green card' holders. Although LPRs have legal immigration status in the United States, they are not US citizens and are not permitted to vote in US elections.”

The charges include fraudulent voter registration and making false statements in naturalisation applications. A Justice Department spokesperson said 21 of the 28 defendants are accused of casting unlawful ballots. Some of the offences carry a maximum prison sentence of five years.

The broader numbers remain small against the total electorate. Before Monday, the Justice Department had charged about 90 people with election misconduct so far this year, including 50 alleged noncitizen voters. The United States had more than 227 million registered voters during the 2024 presidential election.

California Dispute Escalates

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has challenged the Justice Department's allegations. She questioned the reliability of the federal data and warned against removing voters without adequate verification.

The arrests also came days after the Justice Department sued California over its handling of suspected non-citizen registrations. That legal clash has pushed the issue beyond criminal charges and into a wider federal-state confrontation over election oversight.

The timing adds to the stakes. With the November midterms near, scrutiny of electoral integrity in California and across the US is intensifying.