October 20, 2026 09:00 AM PST
(PenniesToSave.com) – Shortly after 6 a.m. Monday, federal agents arrived at a home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Commerce, a small city in Los Angeles County, and took 72-year-old Omar Alexander Muñoz into custody [1][2]. Prosecutors say Muñoz, a Belize-born lawful permanent resident, registered to vote in 2019 by claiming to be a U.S. citizen and then cast ballots in four elections between 2020 and 2024 [1][2]. He is one of 28 green card holders charged under Operation Protect the Vote, a coordinated effort by all four of California’s U.S. attorneys’ offices [2][5][8].
The timing stands out. The charges arrived 15 days before the Nov. 3 election, after ballots had already been mailed to voters and with early voting underway [6][8]. Federal officials present the sweep as evidence that California’s voter rolls need closer scrutiny, while state leaders describe it as a political show meant to shake confidence in the vote [2][6].
For voters in every state, the case raises two practical questions. Who confirms that the people casting ballots are eligible to cast them, and what happens to an election when that confirmation is challenged weeks before the count?
Quick Links
- What Are the 28 Defendants Accused Of?
- How Did Federal Officials Identify These Voters?
- Why Is the Federal Government Suing California?
- Could Election Workers Face Criminal Exposure?
- How Often Does Noncitizen Voting Actually Happen?
- What Does This Mean for Ballots Cast This November?
What Are the 28 Defendants Accused Of?
Federal prosecutors say all 28 defendants are lawful permanent residents, meaning they hold green cards and live in the country legally but are not citizens and cannot vote [3][5][6]. According to the Justice Department, each defendant falsely swore on a voter registration application to being a U.S. citizen, and those registrations were approved [5]. The department also alleges the defendants later told immigration officials, while applying to become naturalized citizens, that they had never claimed citizenship, registered or voted [5].
Prosecutors say 22 of the 28 voted in at least one election, some as recently as the June primary. Five allegedly registered without voting, and one allegedly submitted a provisional ballot in 2020 [6]. The defendants live across the state, in cities including Long Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Sacramento and San Jose [8]. Investigators say José Probitsado Amaro, 51, a Philippine citizen living in National City, voted in the November 2024 general election, and that Moe Thida Lwin, 57, a Myanmar national living in Daly City, registered and voted in 2024 [1].
Officials allege Muñoz has a lengthy criminal history [4], and the California Post reported prior convictions for grand theft and narcotics possession [1]. His wife, Esmeralda Muñoz, said the family did not know he was registered and that he has been an outspoken Trump supporter [2].
Accounts of the charges vary. Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general, said the defendants face some combination of unlawful voting by a noncitizen, falsely claiming citizenship to vote or register, and depriving Californians of a fair election process [8]. KTLA, citing the Justice Department, reported that every defendant is charged with lying on a naturalization application, that some also face fraudulent registration charges, and that both offenses are felonies carrying up to five years in federal prison [5]. The California Post described a mix of criminal and misdemeanor counts [1].
Accounts of custody also differ. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at least 11 people were in custody Monday and the rest would be taken in soon [4][8], while KTLA reported 28 arrests, 11 of them on Monday [5]. Those arrested were expected to make initial court appearances Monday, with no pleas entered [5]. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Noncitizens are voting in California elections which is unconstitutional and illegal.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney [1]
How Did Federal Officials Identify These Voters?
The 28 names came from a much larger list. Federal officials said the Department of Homeland Security compared publicly available California voter registration records with other government databases to flag people it believes are not citizens [4]. That process produced roughly 20,000 names, which the Justice Department delivered last week to the secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar on a password-protected thumb drive [4][7].
The delivery became a dispute of its own. Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said the drive arrived with a handwritten note containing the password and that he did not consider it a secure device. Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office said the password was written on a sticky note [7].
The federal count has also shifted. Weber said that over the summer DHS claimed 190,000 noncitizens were on California’s rolls but refused to share its methodology or data sources when her office asked [7]. California Attorney General Rob Bonta pointed to the gap between that figure and the current 20,000 and asked what happened to the other 170,000 names [7]. McCotter said Monday that the 20,000 figure is likely a minimum that will grow [2], and that federal officials have now disclosed their methodology [8]. Weber has said the methodology was never explained [7][8].
Essayli argued that California’s system invites the problem. He said the state asks registrants only to attest to citizenship, without requiring documentation [1], and he cited a past state audit that he says found noncitizens being registered through the DMV [5]. Supporters of tighter rules see that point as the heart of the case: a system built on a sworn statement works only as well as the honesty of the person signing it.
Why Is the Federal Government Suing California?
On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Justice Department sued California election officials after the state did not meet a 48-hour deadline, set in a letter from McCotter earlier that week, to review the list [7]. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to bar the state from counting mail ballots from people the government has identified as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be confirmed [7][8]. The complaint says the federal government sought to work collaboratively with the state and that California made no serious effort to do so [7].
On Monday, prosecutors filed a motion asking the court to order California to set those ballots aside and verify citizenship, on its own or alongside federal officials, before counting them [2][6]. The Justice Department asked for the order in time for Nov. 3 and argued that without it, the votes of citizens face a significant risk of dilution [2]. McCotter said the new charges show why the lawsuit matters [6].
California officials reject the premise. Weber said the state is in full compliance with federal law, that the government has offered no evidence for its claim, and that the demands amount to an emergency the department created itself [7]. Bonta said the state would not withhold ballots and argued the request violates a federal law that bars states from changing voter rolls within 90 days of an election [7]. He has said he expects California to prevail [2]. Logan said his office cannot withhold or refuse to count ballots based solely on unverified allegations [8].
The lawsuit names both Weber and Logan [7][8], which places the state’s top election official and the head of its largest county elections office at the center of the fight.
Could Election Workers Face Criminal Exposure?
Federal pressure now reaches beyond voters to the people who count ballots. In a letter Friday addressed to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office, with copies to Weber and Logan, McCotter warned that anyone who knowingly tabulates ballots from people federal agencies have identified as noncitizens could become an accomplice to a federal crime [2][4]. He wrote that knowingly facilitating noncitizen voting in a federal election is just as unlawful as the act itself [4].
Essayli repeated the warning Monday. He said state officials who process those ballots after being told who the noncitizens are could face civil violations and criminal consequences, and he described such conduct as complicity [6].
The letter follows weeks of investigative activity. CalMatters reported that federal investigators issued grand jury subpoenas to Los Angeles elections officials seeking information on registered voters, and that federal prosecutors also sought voter information in Orange County and, according to the outlet inewsource, San Diego County [6].
Logan has said his office remains focused on running a fair and secure election and that the dispute is best settled in court [2][4]. He has also said his office has no authority to act on records outside its jurisdiction [8]. For county election staff, the warning adds legal uncertainty to an election already in progress, and it signals that federal officials intend to hold the people running elections responsible for whose ballots get counted.
How Often Does Noncitizen Voting Actually Happen?
The Justice Department says it has charged 113 people in 20 states with illegal voting and registration offenses over roughly the last seven weeks [2][8], and Essayli described those charged as noncitizens [6]. Earlier this year, the department said it had charged about 90 people with election-related misconduct, including 50 accused of voting as noncitizens [2][4][7].
Measured against the size of the electorate, those numbers are small. California has more than 23 million registered voters [2][8], and more than 9.4 million Californians voted in the June primary [6]. Nationally, more than 227 million people were registered to vote in 2024 [2][7], and more than 154 million cast ballots [8]. Bonta put the 28 California cases at about 0.0001% of the state’s registered voters [6].
A drop in the bucket
Rob Bonta, California Attorney General, on the 28 cases [2]
AP reports that noncitizen voting is rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change election outcomes [2]. ABC7 reported that the Justice Department itself has noted research finding the practice extremely rare [4], and independent experts and state election officials say the same [6]. Nevada is often cited as a caution. CalMatters reported that DHS claimed nearly 16,000 noncitizens were on that state’s rolls but sent only 185 names, and that Nevada confirmed all 185 were citizens [6]. Weber described the same episode as Nevada determining that all of the roughly 16,000 were citizens [7].
Federal officials respond that rare is not the same as harmless. McCotter noted that some California races have been decided by only a few hundred votes [2], and he argued that each fraudulent ballot offsets the vote of a lawful citizen [6]. That is the core of the federal argument: in a close contest, a handful of ineligible ballots could carry as much weight as the margin itself.
What Does This Mean for Ballots Cast This November?
California voters are choosing a new governor, deciding 14 statewide ballot measures and weighing several competitive House races that could help determine which party controls Congress [2][6]. The state mails a ballot to every registered voter [2][7], which is why the federal lawsuit focuses on vote-by-mail ballots in particular [7][8]. If the court grants the federal request, up to 20,000 ballots could be set aside until the voters’ citizenship is verified [6][7].
McCotter rejected criticism that the operation could undermine confidence in the election, saying enforcement ensures that the votes of citizens count as they should [4]. Local officials see it differently. NPR reported that local officials describe the federal steps as election interference [3]. Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the effort a desperate attempt to suppress California voters [1][6]. Assemblymember Mark González said the administration is blowing inconsequential issues out of proportion to scare off Latino voters [5]. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the arrests voter intimidation and urged residents to vote early, by mail or at a drop box [5].
For the average voter, the practical stake is simple. A lawfully cast ballot carries the same weight as any other, and an unlawful one quietly cancels it out. That is why both sides, despite their sharp disagreement, say they want the same result: only eligible citizens voting and every eligible ballot counted. Voters who want certainty about their own status can confirm their registration and track their ballot through their county elections office.
Final Thoughts
Voting is one of the few privileges reserved for citizens, and the system depends heavily on honesty. Prosecutors say these 28 defendants swore to a citizenship they did not hold and later denied doing so while seeking to become citizens [5]. If the charges hold up in court, the cases will lend weight to Essayli’s argument that a sworn statement alone is a thin safeguard [1].
At the same time, 28 cases among more than 23 million registered voters is a small number [6], and the Nevada episode shows how far an initial federal estimate can fall once names are checked [6][7]. Both sides say eligibility matters. They disagree about how widespread the problem is and how far the government should go to address it weeks before an election.
The next marker is the court’s ruling on the federal motion to set aside ballots before Nov. 3 [2]. Whatever the outcome, the defendants will have their day in court, and the question of how eligibility is verified will outlast this election.
Works Cited
[1] Chapman, Ben. “Inside the Biggest Voter Fraud Bust in California’s History, as Network of 28 Democracy-Defying Cons Are Snared.” California Post, 19 Oct. 2026, nypost.com/2026/10/19/us-news/fbi-smash-huge-california-voter-fraud-ring-in-los-angeles-days-after-feds-issued-ultimatum-to-state/.
[2] Riddle, Safiyah. “Justice Department Charges More than 2 Dozen in California Sweep Targeting Alleged Noncitizen Voters.” AP News, 19 Oct. 2026, apnews.com/article/california-election-justice-department-60e3dd468f43e0e8a32e6bf69341f189.
[3] Joffe-Block, Jude. “Election Tensions Escalate in California as DOJ Charges 28 People with Voting Crimes.” All Things Considered, NPR, 19 Oct. 2026, www.npr.org/2026/10/19/nx-s1-6007908/election-tensions-escalate-in-california-as-doj-charges-28-people-with-voting-crimes.
[4] Haskell, Josh. “Federal Sweep Targeting Alleged Noncitizen Voters Leads to 28 Charges; 1 Arrested in Commerce.” ABC7 Los Angeles, 19 Oct. 2026, abc7.com/post/federal-operation-targeting-alleged-noncitizen-voter-registration-underway-commerce-area/19954916/.
[5] Conybeare, Will. “28 Foreign Nationals in California Arrested, Charged with Fraudulently Registering in and Voting in U.S. Elections.” KTLA, 19 Oct. 2026, ktla.com/news/california/28-foreign-nationals-in-california-arrested-charged-with-fraudulently-registering-in-and-voting-in-u-s-elections/.
[6] Sabalow, Ryan. “Federal Prosecutors Charge 28 California Green Card Holders with Voting Violations.” CalMatters, 19 Oct. 2026, calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/california-federal-arrests-voter-fraud/.
[7] Richer, Alanna Durkin, et al. “Trump Administration Sues California to Block Counting of Alleged Noncitizen Mail Ballots.” PBS News, 15 Oct. 2026, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-administration-sues-california-to-block-counting-of-alleged-noncitizen-mail-ballots.
[8] Barraza, Paris. “DOJ Charges 28 People in California for Illegally Voting, Registration.” USA Today, 19 Oct. 2026, www.usatoday.com/story/news/state/california/2026/10/19/doj-noncitizen-voting-registration-arrests-california/92328717007/.