Two Indian nationals are among 28 green card holders charged with election fraud in California, the US Department of Justice said on Monday, October 19.
The Justice Department named the two Indians as Amandeep Kaur, 30, and Kamlesh Shah, 67. Both are accused of fraudulently registering as voters and casting ballots in the November 2024 US elections. It was not immediately clear whether the two had been arrested.
Shah lives in Sacramento. According to the department, he registered to vote on the day of the November 2024 general election and voted that same day. Kaur lives in Rancho Palos Verdes and is seeking to become a US citizen. The department said she registered to vote in December 2022 and took part in the 2024 election.
Of the 28 people charged, 11 were arrested in early morning raids across California under an operation named “Operation Protect the Vote”. The department said the operation is meant to tackle fraud in US elections and protect their integrity.
The Justice Department stressed that all 28 are lawful permanent residents, commonly called green card holders. It said they have legal immigration status in the United States but are “not US citizens and are not permitted to vote in US elections”.
The charges include making false statements in a naturalisation application, and some of the defendants also face charges of fraudulent voter registration. Both are felonies, and each carries a maximum prison term of five years in federal prison.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told reporters in Los Angeles that every one of the 28 appears on a list of more than 20,000 likely non-citizen registrants, which the Justice Department gave to California election officials last week.
Before Monday, the department had charged about 90 people this year for various kinds of election misconduct, including 50 who are alleged to have voted as non-citizens. The department’s statement noted that more than 227 million people were registered to vote in the 2024 presidential election in the United States.
