A 31-year-old man has been charged with three felony counts related to allegations that he illegally registered to vote and cast a ballot in a California election, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced Monday.
The charges come amid a broader U.S. Department of Justice election-fraud enforcement effort called Operation Protect the Vote.
"This is the first case that my office has filed since we received the list of registrants from our federal partners, and we are close to making filing decisions in 16 other similar cases," Dow said in a press conference Monday.
John Ruel S. Ambos is being accused of claiming to be a U.S. citizen on his voter registration form, illegally registering to vote in August 2016 and casting a ballot in California's gubernatorial recall election in September 2021.
He has been charged with voter registration fraud, perjury and fraudulent voting. The charges are allegations, and Ambos is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The complaint alleges that these crimes were not discovered until October 23, 2026. Under California law, this allows prosecutors to pursue the charges now.
Voter eligibility in California is addressed in Article II, Section 2 of the California Constitution. It says a U.S. citizen who is at least 18 years old and a resident of California may vote.
"Citizenship is not a technicality. It is a constitutional requirement," Dow said. "Every ballot cast by someone who did not honor that system dilutes the vote of every other citizen who is eligible to vote. So whether a person is here lawfully or unlawfully, if they are not a US citizen, they may not vote in California's elections."
Dow explained that there is a gap in our voting system. He criticized California registering voters based on their word alone. "A person checks a box, they sign a statement saying that they're a citizen, and the state accepts it, no questions asked. The state doesn't verify it," said Dow.
Dow called for stronger verification of citizenship during California’s voter-registration process. "Election integrity is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. It is an American issue and a Californian issue."
In addition to Ambos' case, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office is investigating the other 16 cases involving allegations of illegal voting in the county.
If you have information about election crimes, you are asked to report those to your local district attorney's office or to the California Secretary of State's Election Investigations Division.
