Two men from Sacramento and a woman from Vacaville are among the 28 people living in California charged in federal investigation in allegations of illegal voting and fraudulent voter registration, according to federal officials.
The Vacaville resident – Giezell Viduya Adawag, 41 – made her first appearance in federal court Monday after being accused of registering to vote and voting in the November 2024 general election while falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. She was released on her own recognizance.
Regarding the two Sacramento men, Juan Antonio Rivas García, 46, is accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in 2018 and 2020 and voting in the 2022 and 2024 elections, according to federal officials. Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67, faces a similar charge and is believed to have voted on Election Day in November 2024.
The arrests are part of a federal initiative called “Operation Protect the Vote,” which prosecutors say is aimed at investigating alleged violations of federal election laws.
All 28 defendants are legal permanent residents, also known as green card holders, according to the Justice Department. Although they have legal immigration status, they are not U.S. citizens and cannot vote in federal elections.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the department will pursue cases involving allegations of illegal voting.
“The Department of Justice will not look the other way while noncitizens vote in federal elections,” McCotter said.
Adawag defense attorney questions federal crackdown
Adawag’s attorney, Megan McLoughlin, said the case was unusual in her experience.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this type of accusation,” McLoughlin said. “It’s really traumatic and scary to be arrested when the police show up at your door for whatever reason.”
If convicted, federal officials said Adawag faces a maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.
Advocacy group calls out voter intimidation
Giselle García, director of the NorCal Resist program, said the organization photographed federal agents at the Sutter County election office on Monday. The group claims their presence was an attempt to intimidate voters.
“The fact that these federal agents were present in a polling station in full uniform, with their bulletproof vests and masks, is absolutely intimidation,” García said.
Sutter County Registrar of Voters Donna Johnston did not identify the agents’ agency, but said she did not believe they were there to intimidate anyone.
“We thought absolutely nothing about it,” Johnston said.
DOJ says California refused to cooperate
Federal prosecutors said the investigation involved coordination among California’s four U.S. attorneys’ offices.
According to the Justice Department, the federal government provided California with a list of individuals on October 13 and asked state officials to set aside their mail-in ballots until their citizenship status could be confirmed.
The department said California refused to help, prompting the federal government to sue for a court order to stop the counting of ballots it says were cast illegally.
“We asked California to work collaboratively on this and we never heard back,” McCotter said.
The Justice Department said it made 112 arrests nationwide in recent weeks involving voting and registration violations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded to the federal announcement, saying the statistics undermined claims of widespread voter fraud.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Giselle Garcia as the executive director of NorCal Resist. She is the organization’s program director.
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