The U.S. Department of Justice charged two Indian nationals among 28 lawful permanent residents accused of election offenses in California, bringing individual prosecutions into a wider dispute over the state’s voter rolls.
Prosecutors allege Amandeep Kaur, 30, registered in December 2022 and later cast a ballot in the November 2024 U.S. election. Kaur also faces felony counts, including an allegation that she made a false statement on a naturalization application. Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67, is accused of registering and voting on Election Day in November 2024. The department charged Shah by information with voting as a noncitizen in a federal election, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.
The Justice Department announced the charges Oct. 19 and said 11 defendants were arrested that day, but its release does not say whether Kaur or Shah was among them. Each defendant is a lawful permanent resident, a status that permits residence in the United States but does not confer citizenship or eligibility to vote in federal elections. The department says the defendants are presumed innocent. EconoTimes previously reported the 28 charges and 11 arrests.
The defendants are also tied to the list at the center of the federal dispute with California. In an Oct. 15 court complaint, federal lawyers said it contains more than 20,000 California registrants they believe are likely noncitizens. They asked a court to stop vote-by-mail ballots in federal elections from people on the list being counted until citizenship is verified. The figure is the federal government’s claim about registrants, not a confirmed count of ineligible voters. The department says all 28 defendants appear on the list.
The Justice Department says the requested order would prevent what it alleges is dilution of citizens’ votes. California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber disputes the federal demand, saying her office did not receive the evidence or method used to assemble the list. In a letter, she called the situation “an emergency of the DOJ’s creation” and warned that setting ballots aside based on the list could leave eligible voters without a counted vote.
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said his office had not opened a USB drive supplied by federal officials because of data security protocols. California’s general election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.
