California Voter Fraud Indictments: 10 Noncitizens Charged After Midterms

A federal grand jury in California has returned 10 new California voter fraud indictments against alleged noncitizens accused of registering and voting in California elections, prosecutors announced on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, one day after the midterms.

The indictments, brought as part of Operation Protect the Vote, bring the Southern California investigation's defendants to 28, according to Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles. Two of the people named in the investigation remain fugitives.

Prosecutors say the suspects were identified from a list of over 20,000 suspected noncitizens who allegedly registered in California ahead of the midterms. The charges include making false statements in naturalization applications and voting after falsely claiming United States citizenship. An indictment is an allegation, not a conviction, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.

Key Points

• A federal grand jury returned 10 indictments on November 4, 2026, against alleged noncitizens who registered and voted in California elections.
• The new indictments bring the number of defendants in the Southern California investigation, Operation Protect the Vote, to 28.
• Among those indicted are Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, of the City of Commerce; Muhammad Khan, 50, of Anaheim; and Ana Domínguez, 60, of Long Beach.
• Two suspects remain fugitives: Axel Giovani Prera García, 46, of Pico Rivera, and Ernesto Gutiérrez Ruvalcaba, 57, of Wilmington.
• Prosecutors say the suspects were identified from a list of over 20,000 suspected noncitizens who allegedly registered in California.

What Happened

The grand jury acted on Wednesday, November 4, the day after the midterm elections. Essayli announced the indictments on X, writing: “Our work continues. Today, a federal grand jury returned 10 indictments against noncitizens who registered and voted in California elections as part of Operation Protect the Vote.”

Among those indicted was Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national arrested on October 19 at his City of Commerce home at around 6 a.m. by Homeland Security Investigations agents. Prosecutors allege he registered fraudulently in September 2019 by claiming US citizenship, then voted in 2020, twice in 2022, and again in 2024. Also indicted was Muhammad Khan, 50, of Anaheim, a Pakistani national accused of submitting a ballot while falsely claiming citizenship, and Ana Domínguez, 60, a Salvadoran national of Long Beach, who allegedly registered in July 2006 and lied on naturalization paperwork in March by claiming she had never registered.

José Antonio Bañuelos-Díaz and Jesús Narez-Madrigal were also arrested in the October 19 operation; Carlos Antonio Galeas and Flavio Alejandro Zúñiga were arrested on October 20 and Amandeep Kaur on October 26. With the November 4 indictments, prosecutors put the total at 28.

Background: Operation Protect the Vote

Operation Protect the Vote is the federal investigation behind the California cases. It grew out of checks of voter rolls against immigration and other federal records, producing a list of over 20,000 suspected noncitizens who allegedly registered in California ahead of the midterms. Under federal law, only US citizens may vote in federal elections.

The California indictments follow a wider national announcement in late October, when the Justice Department charged 48 alleged noncitizens across five states with illegal voting, fraudulent registration and false citizenship claims. That earlier announcement, covered by US News Pulse when the charges were unveiled, set the stage for the California action. Days before the election, a federal judge in Los Angeles also rejected a Justice Department bid to set aside more than 20,000 California ballots flagged as likely noncitizen votes, a decision US News Pulse reported at the time. The new indictments are criminal cases against named individuals, not a challenge to counted ballots.

California Voter Fraud Indictments: The Defendants Named

The defendants named span several Southern California communities, and their alleged conduct stretches back decades. The oldest registration cited dates to 2002, when prosecutors say Prera García, one of the two fugitives, first registered, registering again in 2005 and making false statements in naturalization paperwork in June 2025. The second fugitive, Gutiérrez Ruvalcaba, allegedly registered in February 2024 and voted one month later. Both men remain at large.

The cases differ in detail but share a pattern, according to prosecutors: a registration filed under a false claim of citizenship, followed by votes cast in elections where the defendant was not eligible to vote, and in several cases false statements made later during the naturalization process. Domínguez, for example, is accused of registering in 2006 and then telling immigration authorities in March that she had never registered, a statement prosecutors say was false.

Reactions and Statements

Essayli called the indictments continuing work, not a finished job. “Our work continues,” he wrote, signalling that investigators expect the Southern California inquiry to go further. The timing also drew attention: the investigation was built around registrations allegedly made ahead of the midterms, but the votes described were cast in earlier cycles, including 2020, 2022 and 2024, not on November 3, 2026.

Why It Matters

The indictments put a concrete number on a politically charged claim of the election season: that noncitizens are registering and voting in California. Twenty-eight defendants in a state with millions of registered voters is small in absolute terms, but prosecutors say each case is a vote cast by someone not entitled to cast it.

The cases also test how far the federal government will go in policing voter rolls. The investigation began with a list of more than 20,000 names, and only a fraction have so far produced charges. How investigators chose which names to pursue will shape whether the crackdown is seen as targeted law enforcement or as a broader challenge to California's election administration.

What Happens Next

The indicted defendants will now face arraignment in federal court. Investigators are also still looking for the two fugitives. Essayli's message suggests further indictments are possible, and whether more names from the 20,000-person list lead to charges will show whether November 4 was the peak of Operation Protect the Vote or only its latest round.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened in the California voter fraud case?

A federal grand jury returned 10 indictments on November 4, 2026, against alleged noncitizens accused of registering and voting in California elections, bringing the Southern California total to 28 defendants.

Who was indicted?

Among those indicted are Omar Alexander Muñoz, 72, of the City of Commerce; Muhammad Khan, 50, of Anaheim; and Ana Domínguez, 60, of Long Beach. Prera García and Gutiérrez Ruvalcaba remain fugitives.

What are the defendants accused of?

Prosecutors allege the defendants registered to vote by falsely claiming US citizenship and then cast ballots in past elections, in some cases also making false statements on naturalization paperwork.

Do these cases change the results of the November 3 midterm elections?

The charges concern registrations and votes in earlier cycles, including 2020, 2022 and 2024, not ballots cast on November 3, 2026. They are criminal cases against named individuals, not a challenge to counted midterm ballots.

What is Operation Protect the Vote?

It is the federal investigation behind the California cases, built on a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens who allegedly registered to vote in California ahead of the November midterms.