OMM Newsroom
The US Department of Justice on Monday charged 28 foreign nationals living in California with alleged federal election-related crimes, including falsely claiming US citizenship on voter registration forms and, in many cases, casting ballots, Anadolu Agency reported.
Federal authorities said 11 defendants were arrested as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” a coordinated investigation involving all four US Attorney’s Offices in California.
According to the Justice Department, all 28 defendants are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders. They may legally live and work in the United States but are not US citizens and are generally prohibited from voting in federal elections.
The criminal complaints allege that the defendants made false statements in naturalization applications. Some also face charges of fraudulent voter registration. The alleged offenses carry maximum potential penalties of five years in federal prison.
The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
“Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
Last week, the Justice Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), filed a complaint against California over the state’s voter-registration lists. The complaint alleged that more than 20,000 people who are likely noncitizens were registered to vote in California.
