Two Indian nationals are among 28 green card holders charged with election-related offences in California, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday. The two Indian nationals have been identified as Amandeep Kaur, 30, and Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67. They are accused of registering as voters despite not being US citizens and casting ballots in the November 2024 US elections.
According to the DOJ, 11 of the 28 people charged were arrested during early morning raids across California. The arrests were carried out under ‘Operation Protect the Vote’, an initiative aimed at investigating alleged election fraud and protecting the integrity of US elections.
It was not immediately clear whether Kaur and Shah were among those arrested.
Who are the two Indian nationals arrested for fraud?
Shah lives in Sacramento, California. According to the DOJ, he allegedly registered to vote on the day of the November 2024 general election and cast his ballot on the same day.
Kaur, who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, is seeking US citizenship. The department alleged that she registered as a voter in December 2022 and later voted in the November 2024 election.
The DOJ said all 28 accused are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders. While they are legally allowed to live and work in the US, they are not US citizens and cannot vote in federal elections.
The charges include making false statements in applications for US citizenship. Some of the accused also face charges of fraudulent voter registration.
The department said these offences can carry a maximum prison sentence of five years, although the penalties depend on the specific charges and the outcome of each case.
What did the US Justice Department say?
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the 28 people charged were included on a list of more than 20,000 people suspected of being noncitizens who had registered to vote in California.
“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.
The federal government had shared the list with California officials and asked them to verify the citizenship status of the people named. The dispute has led to a wider legal battle between the federal government and California over access to voter records and the handling of ballots linked to people suspected of being ineligible to vote.
According to the DOJ, the 11 arrests were part of a coordinated operation involving all four US attorney’s offices in California.
How many people have been charged with election fraud?
Before the latest action, the DOJ had charged around 90 people with different election-related offences during 2026, according to the figures provided by the department. About 50 of them were accused of voting despite not being US citizens.
The 2024 US presidential election had more than 227 million registered voters, according to the figures cited in the report.
The cases come amid a broader dispute over alleged noncitizen voting in California. Federal officials have called for stricter checks on voter eligibility, while California officials have challenged the federal government’s claims and its demands regarding voter records and ballots.
The allegations against Kaur, Shah and the other accused have yet to be established in court.
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