Federal officials have arrested roughly two dozen individuals in connection with illegal voting in California, which comes after the Justice Department warned California officials to review a list of possible noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls.
The effort, “Operation Protect the Vote,” focused on foreign nationals accused of fraudulently registering to vote in U.S. elections. Some of those arrested are also accused of already casting ballots in an election.
The New York Post detailed the arrest of one of the individuals — Alexander Muñoz, a Belizean national who registered to vote in 2019. According to the outlet, he lied about his citizenship — or lack thereof — and voted in the 2020, 2022, and 2024 elections. Further, he is accused of voting twice in the 2022 elections alone.
“Muñoz also lied on his application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen when he falsely stated under oath to have never claimed to be a citizen, investigators say. He faces felony charges, including making false statements in a naturalization application,” according to the Post.
“Today’s arrests confirm what we suspected and what we put California on notice for: Noncitizens are voting in California elections which is unconstitutional and illegal,” Los Angeles federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said.
The rollout of Operation Protect the Vote follows U.S. attorney general Trent McCotter sending a letter to the California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, alleging that the state may have mailed ballots to noncitizens ahead of the November 3 elections. Trump’s Justice Department ultimately asked California officials to review a list of names of suspect individuals.
“On July 16, Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin made you aware that there are likely numerous noncitizens registered to vote in the federal election in California,” the letter reads, adding that California officials failed to “refute that noncitizens are registered to vote in California.”
As a result, federal officials provided a password-protected thumb drive with a list of names to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, giving them 48 hours to review the list and take appropriate actions to address the problem ahead of Election Day.
“For individuals whom you cannot independently confirm citizenship status, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections office to segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined,” the letter reads, emphasizing the importance of this oversight by reminding California officials that “allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes.”
“States are responsible for voter registration, and the Federal Government is responsible for maintaining immigration records to enable verification of citizenship,” the letter reads. “Working together, we can more effectively protect against voter dilution and promote election integrity.”
“If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” it warned.
Weber, however, did not welcome the federal government’s actions to ensure the integrity of the vote in the Golden State.
“The U.S. DOJ’s relentless efforts to unlawfully gain access to states’ protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in our elections,” Weber claimed. “California has robust state law requirements that only U.S. citizens can register to vote and that any non-eligible registrants are removed from the State’s voter rolls. My office and California election officials remain committed — as always — to ensuring a fair and smooth 2026 General Election.”
Recent surveys show a consensus among Americans across the board when it comes to securing U.S. elections, as most believe a voting individual should have to show a valid photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
