DOJ Charges 28 California Green Card Holders With Voting Crimes Weeks Before Midterms

Federal prosecutors in California's Central District charged 28 lawful permanent residents on October 19, 2026, with illegally registering to vote or voting in state elections. Twenty-two are accused of voting at least once, including in the June primary; five of registering only; one of a 2020 provisional ballot. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the charges, tied by Deputy AG Trent McCotter to a pending DOJ lawsuit seeking to block about 20,000 California ballots suspected of coming from noncitizens. Essayli said prosecutors have charged 113 noncitizens nationwide in 20 states over two months.

The charges land two weeks before Election Day amid DOJ subpoenas to county election offices, intensifying a noncitizen-voting crackdown that state officials and independent experts say catches few people actually ineligible, fueling concern the crackdown aims to cast doubt on results, not find fraud.

The department's related lawsuit to segregate the disputed ballots remains before a federal judge. Governor Gavin Newsom called it a request that should alarm every American; the 28 defendants' cases proceed separately.