DoJ charges 28 green card holders in California over alleged voter fraud
Crackdown marks latest escalation in the Trump justice department’s push to target alleged noncitizen voting
TL;DR
- 28 green card holders in California face criminal charges for allegedly registering to vote and casting illegal ballots.
- The Justice Department alleges these individuals, who are lawful permanent residents but not citizens, made false statements in naturalization applications and fraudulently signed up to vote.
- Democrats and voting rights groups view these actions as a strategy by the Trump administration to undermine trust in the upcoming midterm elections.
- Election experts warn that such crackdowns, targeting infrequent noncitizen voting, could lead to the disenfranchisement of US citizens.
- The Justice Department has also sued California, seeking to block the tabulation of certain ballots, based on a list of over 20,000 individuals believed to be noncitizens.
- California's Secretary of State has condemned the federal demands as 'outrageous' and based on 'vague and unsubstantiated allegations'.
- Some defendants claim confusion about their eligibility or were unaware they were illegally voting.
- The Justice Department has filed charges against a total of 112 people across 20 states for alleged registration offenses and illegal voting in recent weeks.