A defendant in the Justice Department’s sweeping California voter fraud investigation offered a glimpse Monday into what he described as the state’s surprisingly loose voting procedures.
Kamlesh Shah, a 67-year-old Sacramento resident and green card holder, is among 28 noncitizens accused of voting illegally despite not being U.S. citizens.
Shah, an Indian national, allegedly registered to vote on Election Day during the November 2024 general election and cast a ballot that same day.
“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 Justice Department said.
Shah told KCRA that he went to a community center on Election Day, where he was asked whether anyone had ever informed him that he was ineligible to vote.
“No, nobody told me,” Shah said. “See, that’s very confusing because when I went there, the office there — the election officer over there — didn’t say anything about it.”
“He just asked for my ID and my number,” Shah said. The California Post contacted Sacramento County’s election division for comment.
California Democrats have downplayed the investigation, describing the arrests as a “drop in the bucket.”
At a San Francisco press conference, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said voter fraud is both illegal and wrong, while arguing that the number of arrests demonstrates how uncommon it is.
“Every count, recount, hand count, case audit shows that,” Bonta said.
Referring to the 28 people charged in the federal operation, dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote,” Bonta said, “It’s .0001% of all of the registered voters and it makes the point there is no widespread voter fraud and that there is, at times, isolated one-off examples of voter fraud.”
MORE ON THIS: Boy Suffers 70% Burns After Viral ‘Fire Challenge’ Trend
Federal prosecutors announced the arrests in a coordinated statewide operation. In a news release, they said 28 noncitizens face charges for allegedly making false statements on naturalization documents or illegally registering to vote.
Among those arrested was José Probitsado Amaro, 51, a Filipino citizen living in National City in San Diego County. Federal authorities allege that he registered to vote after falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen.
Alexander Muñoz, 72, a resident of the City of Commerce, was also arrested in a 6 a.m. raid witnessed by The California Post.
Authorities allege that Muñoz, a Belizean national, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019 and then cast ballots in the 2020, 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections.
Federal prosecutors contend that additional noncitizen voting could be taking place.
“No, this isn’t the total number of noncitizen voters in California. Police can’t catch every speeder, but that doesn’t mean speeding isn’t widespread. 28 is what we could charge in a week,” First Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X Monday.
The previous week, Justice Department officials directed California authorities to examine a thumb drive containing a list of 20,000 people they described as “likely” noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. Officials gave the state 48 hours to comply.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber refused to comply with the order.
“The DOJ is demanding unprecedented measures that threaten thousands of Californians’ right to vote, based on unverifiable information or methodology that you still fail to explain or provide,” Weber wrote in a letter.
