DOJ Announces Voting Charges Against 48 Noncitizens; 28 Are California Defendants It Announced a Week Earlier

The Justice Department on Monday announced charges involving 48 noncitizens in five states accused of illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and related election crimes, eight days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

A review by The Digital Free Press of the department's own releases shows that 28 of the 48 are the same California defendants the department announced on Oct. 19. The cases new to Monday's announcement number 20, in Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Nevada.

What the Noncitizen Voting Announcement Says

The Oct. 26 release, issued by the Office of the Attorney General, lists defendants charged in 10 federal districts: four in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, five in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 28 across California's four districts, six in the Middle District of Florida, one in the Northern District of New York, three in the Eastern District of New York and one in Nevada.

The department describes 47 of the 48 as lawful permanent residents, or green card holders. One, a 73-year-old man from Cuba charged in Philadelphia, is described as an "illegal alien." Their ages range from 21 to 81.

Most are accused of voting in the 2022 or 2024 general elections. One California defendant allegedly voted in three elections, "the most recent election being the June 2026 primary," and another allegedly voted in 2022, twice in 2024 and in 2025. Two others allegedly registered on the day of the November 2024 general election and voted that day.

In the Eastern District of New York, the release says, all three defendants admitted "in substance and in part" in voluntary interviews with federal agents that they were not citizens and had voted in 2024.

How the 28 California Cases Overlap

The Digital Free Press compared every name in Monday's release with the department's Oct. 19 announcement, "Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes." All 28 California defendants listed on Monday appear in the earlier release, with largely the same descriptions. Monday's release does not say those cases were previously announced. None of the 48 appears in a third release, from Oct. 16, that announced charges against 16 noncitizens in North Carolina, New York and Idaho.

Counted together, the three releases account for 64 different defendants, by The Digital Free Press's count.

The Oct. 19 release said 11 of the California defendants were arrested that day as part of "Operation Protect the Vote," and that all 28 are green card holders. In that release, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said each of the 28 "appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants" the department gave California election officials. The department has sued California over that list, and a federal judge in Los Angeles, David O. Carter, said he would rule Wednesday on the government's request. At a hearing Tuesday, Carter referred to the October arrests of 28 people in California and questioned why the government was suing the state rather than prosecuting, telling government lawyers, "You got a remedy for goodness sakes — go out and indict," The Associated Press reported.

Twenty of the 28 California defendants are accused of lying about their voting history or citizenship claims on their applications to become naturalized citizens. The earliest voter registration in the release dates to 2002.

The Charges and Penalties

The charges vary by district. Voting by a noncitizen in a federal election is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year, the release says in its Eastern District of California section. The Oct. 19 release said the false-statement charges tied to naturalization applications and fraudulent voter registration are felonies carrying up to five years in prison.

"A complaint, indictment, and information merely contain accusations," the department said. "All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, "Justice Department Announces Charges Involving 48 Aliens for Election-Related Crimes," Oct. 26, 2026 (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-involving-48-aliens-election-related-crimes); "Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes," Oct. 19, 2026 (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-28-foreign-nationals-california-election-crimes); "Justice Department Announces Charges Involving 16 Aliens for Illegal Voting," Oct. 16, 2026 (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-charges-involving-16-aliens-illegal-voting); The Associated Press, "Special master could evaluate DOJ claim of 20,000 noncitizens on California voter rolls," Oct. 27, 2026, via WHSV (https://www.whsv.com/2026/10/28/special-master-could-evaluate-justice-departments-claims-noncitizens-california-voter-rolls/). Cover photo: Department of Justice headquarters, Washington, by G. Edward Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.