Vacaville, Sacramento residents among 28 charged in California voter fraud crackdown

Key Points:

• Twenty-eight lawful permanent residents in California, including two Sacramento men and one Vacaville woman, have been federally charged with illegal voting and fraudulent voter registration as part of "Operation Protect the Vote."
• The Vacaville woman, Giezell Viduya Adawag, allegedly registered and voted in the 2024 election while falsely claiming U.S. citizenship; she was released on her own recognizance and faces up to one year in federal prison if convicted.
• Federal officials accuse the two Sacramento men, Juan Antonio Rivas García and Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, of falsely claiming citizenship and illegally voting in multiple elections between 2018 and 2024.
• The Justice Department criticized California for declining to cooperate with federal requests to verify citizenship status and set aside certain ballots, leading to a federal lawsuit to prevent counting allegedly unlawful votes.
• Advocacy groups allege federal agents' presence at polling locations is voter intimidation, while California officials deny such intentions; Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed the federal claims as undermined by the statistics.