Vacaville, Sacramento residents among 28 charged in California voter fraud crackdown
By Steve Large
Two Sacramento men and one Vacaville woman are among 28 people living in California charged in a federal investigation into 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 charged with allegedly registering to vote and casting a ballot 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 casting ballots in the 2022 and 2024 elections, federal officials say. Kamlesh Navnitlal Shah, 67, faces a similar accusation and allegedly casted a ballot 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 lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, according to the Justice Department. While they have legal immigration status, they are not U.S. citizens and are not eligible to vote in federal elections.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the department would pursue cases involving alleged illegal voting.
“This Department of Justice will not look the other way while non-citizens vote in federal elections,” McCotter said.
Adawag’s 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 ever seen this type of charge,” McLoughlin said. “It’s really traumatizing and scary to be arrested when the marshals come to your door for any reason.”
If convicted, federal officials said Adawag faces a maximum sentence of one year in federal prison.
Advocacy group alleges voter intimidation
Giselle García, executive director of NorCal Resist, said the organization photographed federal agents at the Sutter County elections office on Monday. The group alleges their presence was an attempt to intimidate voters.
“The fact that these federal agents were present at a polling location with full uniforms with their bulletproof vests and masked up, that is absolutely intimidation,” García said.
Sutter County Registrar of Voters Donna Johnston did not identify the officers’ agency but said she did not believe they were there to intimidate anyone.
“We didn’t think anything of it whatsoever,” Johnston said.
DOJ says California declined 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 Oct. 13 and asked state officials to set aside their vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status could be confirmed.
The department said California declined to assist, prompting the federal government to file a lawsuit seeking a court order to prevent the counting of ballots it alleges were unlawfully cast.
“We asked California to work collaboratively on this and we never heard anything back,” McCotter said.
The Justice Department said it made 112 arrests nationwide in recent weeks involving voting- and registration-related offenses.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the federal announcement, saying the statistics undermine claims of widespread voter fraud.
