Two Indian nationals among 28 green card holders charged with electoral fraud in US
The two Indians, Amandeep Kaur (30) and Kamlesh Shah (67), are accused of illegally registering as voters and casting votes in the November 2024 US elections.
PTC News Desk: Two Indian nationals are among 28 US green card holders charged with election fraud in California, the US Department of Justice said on Monday.
The two Indians, Amandeep Kaur (30) and Kamlesh Shah (67), are accused of illegally registering as voters and casting votes in the November 2024 US elections.
According to the Justice Department, 11 of the 28 accused were arrested during early morning raids across California. The arrests were made under an operation called ‘Operation Protect the Vote’, which aims to prevent election fraud and protect the fairness of US elections.
However, it was not immediately clear whether Kaur and Shah were among those arrested.
Kamlesh Shah, a resident of Sacramento, allegedly registered to vote on the day of the November 2024 general election and cast his vote the same day.
Amandeep Kaur, who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes and is applying for US citizenship, allegedly registered as a voter in December 2022 and voted in the November 2024 election.
"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 charges include providing false information in citizenship applications. Some of the accused also face charges of fraudulent voter registration. Both offences are felonies and carry a maximum punishment of five years in federal prison.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told reporters in Los Angeles that all 28 accused were included in a list of more than 20,000 suspected non-citizen voters that the Justice Department had shared with California election officials the previous week.
Before Monday's announcement, the Justice Department had charged around 90 people with different types of election-related offences this year. Of these, 50 were accused of voting despite not being US citizens.
For comparison, the United States had more than 227 million registered voters during the 2024 presidential election.