The Justice Department has charged 28 people in California with election crimes.

Posted by Apple News Today, Oct 21, 2026Checked Oct 30, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 4 support2 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 95%

Apple News TodayOct 21, 2026

The Guardian’s Ashifa Kassam takes us inside Europe’s “autumn of discontent.” The Justice Department has charged 28 people in California with election crimes and is seeking to block roughly 20,000 ballots from being counted in the midterm elections despite experts saying noncitizen voting is extremely rare. NPR’s Miles Parks discusses the implications of the move. …

19 claimsThe check →

The DOJ press release, NYT, NPR, ABC and AP coverage all confirm that the Justice Department charged 28 people in California with election-related crimes on October 19, 2026, which is before the October 21 claim date.

This claim is in the show notes, the publisher's own words. It counts against the post, once.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What we found

Supports. The Justice Department press release dated October 19, 2026 states that 28 total foreign nationals were charged in criminal complaints with federal crimes including fraudulent voter registration, under 'Operation Protect the Vote.'[2]

Supports. The New York Times reports that Justice Department officials said 28 people, all green card holders, had been charged with violating federal voting laws in California.[3]

Supports. NPR and ABC News independently report the DOJ charged 28 people in California with voting or election-related crimes on October 19, 2026.[4][5]

Context. The charged individuals are lawful permanent residents rather than citizens, and 11 were arrested at the time; the claim's wording of 'people' is consistent with the sources.[2][6]

Context. Reuters reports the 28 charged were among a list of 20,000 people flagged by the administration, and the DOJ later sued California; the charges were not reversed as of the later coverage.[1]