Five Bay Area residents are among 28 green-card holders charged with federal election crimes in California. The Justice Department announced the cases on Monday, Oct. 19, as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” a joint effort by all four U.S. attorney’s offices in the state.

Who was charged in the Bay Area

According to the Justice Department, the Northern District of California defendants are:

  • Verónica Bullene, 43, of Petaluma, a Mexican national also identified as Verónica Hernández Martínez. Prosecutors say she claimed citizenship to register to vote in 2022 and 2023, voted in 2024, and then denied on her naturalization application that she had ever claimed to be a citizen.
  • David Shapiro, 41, of San Jose, a national of Georgia. Prosecutors say he registered in 2024, voted, and made false statements on his naturalization application.
  • Moe Thida Lwin, 57, of Daly City, a Myanmar national. Prosecutors say she registered in 2024, voted, and made false statements on her naturalization paperwork.
  • Manakotau Mataele Finau, 61, of Hayward, a Tongan national. Prosecutors say he registered for the 2024 election, voted, and lied about it on naturalization paperwork.
  • Maribel del Carmen Garcés Barriga, 62, of San Francisco, an Ecuadoran national. Prosecutors say she registered in 2024, voted, and then denied on naturalization paperwork that she had ever registered or voted.

These are allegations, and none of the defendants has been convicted. Patch reported that Shapiro told The Mercury News he had never cast a ballot. Bullene faces four counts. The most serious, attempted procurement of naturalization contrary to law, carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

How rare is it?

CalMatters reported that 22 of the 28 defendants statewide are accused of voting in at least one election. Five are accused only of registering, and one is accused of submitting a provisional ballot in 2020. Attorney General Rob Bonta put the number in context: “Twenty-eight out of 23 million registered voters in California is just … a drop in the bucket numerically,” he said. “It’s 0.0001% of all the registered voters, and it makes the point that there is no widespread voter fraud.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the Justice Department release that the arrests “prove what we have been saying,” and that California is “mailing ballots to noncitizens.”

Local pushback

Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Evelyn Mendez told The Press Democrat that federal authorities had not contacted her office before charging Bullene, Patch reported. She questioned whether the public information was enough to identify the voter, since it lacked a birth date and address, and she questioned the timing so close to the Nov. 3 election. Reps. Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson also raised concerns about voter intimidation at an appearance in Petaluma.

The charges come alongside a federal court fight over Homeland Security home visits to suspected noncitizen voters; see our earlier report on that case.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls and vote centers close at 8 p.m., and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days. You can check your registration and ballot status at sos.ca.gov/elections. California lets you register and vote the same day at a vote center.