Highlights:
TWO Indian nationals are among 28 green card holders charged with election fraud in California, the Justice Department said in a statement on Monday (19).
Amandeep Kaur, 30, and Kamlesh Shah, 67, are accused of fraudulently registering to vote and casting ballots in the November 2024 US elections, the department said.
Of the 28 people charged, 11 were arrested in early morning raids across the state under ‘Operation Protect the Vote’.
It was not immediately clear whether the two Indian nationals were among those arrested.
Shah, a resident of Sacramento, allegedly registered to vote fraudulently on the day of the November 2024 general election and cast a ballot that day, the Justice Department said.
Kaur, a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes who is seeking to become a US citizen, allegedly registered to vote fraudulently in December 2022 and cast a ballot in the November 2024 election, it said.
“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.
The criminal charges include making false statements in a naturalization application. Some defendants were also charged with fraudulent voter registration. Both offenses are felonies carrying a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
“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,” acting deputy attorney general Trent McCotter told reporters in Los Angeles.
False citizenship claim
An Indian national was arrested for falsely claiming to be an American citizen to vote in the 2024 general election in Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said last Friday (16).
Mukeshkumar Somabhai Chaudhari was charged with knowingly furnishing false information in voting and making a false claim of citizenship to register to vote or cast a ballot.
“If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count,” the DHS said.
Chaudhari signed a voter signature certificate on November 5, 2024, as required under Minnesota law to vote in the general election, according to the indictment.
The document required him to swear or affirm that he was a US citizen. Prosecutors allege that he was not a citizen and knowingly made the false declaration to vote.
