Can Green Card Holders Vote? California Voter Fraud Charges Explained

We're moving forward with criminal prosecutions Federal prosecutors announcing more charges related to alleged voter fraud. In these cases, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Assaley says the six defendants are legal permanent residents,

meaning they have green cards, but are not US citizens and cannot legally vote in American elections, adding the defendants live in Palmdale, West Hills, Agua Dulce, and Canoga Park.

Every vote does matter. Uh, it doesn't take many illegal votes to corrupt, uh, our elections.

According to court documents, investigators allege the six falsely claimed to be US citizens when registering to vote and cast ballots in elections dating back several years.

Illegally attempting to infiltrate and influence our political determinations is not only wrong, it's a crime.

Prosecutors say the defendants then denied ever registering or voting when applying to become naturalized citizens, signing those applications under penalty of perjury.

When it comes to confirming identity, mind you, a lot of them had to...

Oh, all of them signed an affidavit saying they're a US citizen, so we have their signature. And then we have the signature in their immigration paperwork when they applied to naturali-alize or they come in for their interview.

So we do signature comparison. There's a lot that goes into it to confirm identity.

It looked like an official document for her.

But defense attorney Tiffany Feder says her client's registration was not an intentional attempt to break the law.

And the last thing anybody here who doesn't have status or any kind of standing wants to do is get in ki- any kind of trouble with our government.

Adding her client, Moria Don, was also fearful that not completing the paperwork could jeopardize her path to becoming a US citizen.

That we need to not look at it in a vacuum and give these people the benefit of the doubt.

This case is part of a federal investigation called Operation Protect the Vote. Prosecutors say all 34 people charged so far appeared on a list of thousands of names provided to California officials.

Our goal is to get California to not count the votes of non-citizens.

I would hope that most Americans by now know that green card holders can't vote, but just in case you don't, can green card holders vote? The answer to that is no.

Green card holders cannot vote in federal or state elections. That is a long-standing rule.

Only US citizens can vote, meaning if you are on a visa, you are not a US citizen.

You cannot vote. If you have a green card, a lot of people think they go through that process and then that gives them voter rights. That is not the case.

You cannot vote in a federal or state election, and then obviously non-citizens can't vote either. And this is in all 50 states and federal elections, so you cannot vote anywhere if you are on a visa or have a green card.

What is the penalty if you do? Everyone should know this.

There are criminal penalties, up to one year in prison and deportation, denial of naturalization, and other immigration consequences.

So do not vote if you have a green card or if you are not a US citizen.

It is that simple