California Attorney General Rob Bonta pushed back Monday against the federal government’s announcement of a major voter-fraud investigation, saying the alleged noncitizen voters represent only a tiny fraction of the state’s tens of millions of registered voters.
Speaking at a news conference in San Francisco, Bonta said voter fraud is both illegal and unacceptable. But he argued that the arrests of 11 California residents accused of voting as noncitizens demonstrate how uncommon such cases are.
“Every count, recount, hand count, case audit shows that,” the attorney general said.
Bonta said the 28 people facing charges in the federal investigation, known as “Operation Protect the Vote,” amount to roughly “.0001%” of California’s registered voters. In his view, the figure points to isolated cases rather than evidence of widespread voter fraud.
“These are arrests,” Bonta said, cautioning that prosecutors still must establish what the evidence shows and whether the charges will ultimately be dismissed or pursued in court.
Federal prosecutors announced a coordinated operation across California, saying 28 noncitizens are accused of either making false claims on naturalization documents or unlawfully registering to vote in U.S. elections.
Among those arrested was José Probitsado Amaro, 51, a Philippine citizen who lives in National City, San Diego County. Federal authorities allege that Amaro registered to vote after falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen.
Alexander Muñoz, 72, of the City of Commerce, was taken into custody during a 6 a.m. arrest witnessed by The California Post. Authorities accuse the Belizean national of registering to vote fraudulently in September 2019 and casting ballots in the 2020, 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections.
Bonta emphasized that the arrests represent a minuscule share of California’s approximately 23 million registered voters.
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“The announcement by the DOJ today makes the point that there is no widespread voter fraud,” Bonta said. “But when there are isolated incidents … those individuals should be held accountable.”
He also pointed to the prosecution of an Orange County woman who registered her dog to vote. As part of a plea agreement, she was required to help fund anti-voter-fraud billboards.
First Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli disputed Bonta’s interpretation, writing on X that the 28 defendants do not represent the full number of noncitizens who may have voted in California. “Police can’t catch every speeder, but that doesn’t mean speeding isn’t widespread,” Essayli wrote. “28 is what we could charge in a week.”
The arrests mark a sharp escalation in the ongoing dispute between California officials and President Donald Trump’s administration over election security, coming just weeks before next month’s midterm elections.
The confrontation intensified last week when Justice Department officials directed California to examine a list of 20,000 people they described as “likely” noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. The list was delivered on a thumb drive, and federal officials gave the state 48 hours to respond.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the federal government had not provided evidence supporting the allegations. She cited a separate case in Nevada, where federal officials had identified 16,000 suspected noncitizen voters who were later found to be citizens, according to The Associated Press.
The Justice Department is pursuing “unprecedented measures that threaten thousands of Californians’ right to vote,” Weber wrote, arguing that the federal government has yet to explain or substantiate the information and methodology behind its claims.
California’s election is already underway, with ballots mailed to voters beginning in early October.
The federal government has since filed a lawsuit arguing that the Justice Department has a responsibility to intervene if California allows noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit a “desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day.
“The courts have made clear that the federal government has no role in how a state carries out its election process, and now, in the middle of Californians voting, they have asked local officials — who do a damn good job defending democracy — to violate federal law,” Newsom said.
