DOJ Demands Washington State Segregate Ballots Over Noncitizen Voting Allegations
Federal prosecutors are pressuring Washington state to set aside over 400 ballots, alleging noncitizen participation just days before the midterm elections.
POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — Federal prosecutors in Washington state issued a formal request on Monday to the state’s top election official, demanding that ballots from more than 400 individuals suspected of being noncitizens be set aside. This move marks a significant escalation in the Justice Department’s ongoing campaign to challenge the integrity of state voter rolls just days before the midterm elections.
Neil Floyd, the acting U.S. attorney in Seattle, joined by eastern Washington’s top federal prosecutor Pete Serrano, stated that many of the 405 registered voters in question are believed to be green-card holders. While these individuals possess legal immigration status, they are ineligible to vote in federal elections.
The prosecutors allege that these suspected noncitizens have participated in multiple elections, with Floyd estimating that more than 1,500 ballots have been cast illegally. “This is not the full number of noncitizens who have been voting in Washington,” Floyd stated. “This is only the tip of the iceberg.”
In a letter delivered to Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, the prosecutors requested that any ballots cast by these individuals be segregated until their citizenship status is verified. They noted that some identified individuals have voted in Washington for over a decade, casting more than two dozen ballots in that timeframe, with some participating as recently as the August primaries.
The Justice Department has given Hobbs a 48-hour deadline, expiring Wednesday, to review the list and prevent the tabulation of these specific ballots. The prosecutors warned, If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief.
Secretary of State Hobbs confirmed receipt of the letter but immediately questioned the accuracy of the provided list. His office noted that the data includes records for individuals who appear to have last voted in the 1990s, including one case dating back to 1994, despite more than 113 million ballots being cast in the state since that time.
“We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. We saw what happened in California and do not want Washingtonians to be harassed,” Hobbs said. He further characterized the timing of the request as an attempt to cast unfounded suspicion on the upcoming Nov. 3 election results.
The current dispute follows a failed legal attempt by the Trump administration last year to force Washington to turn over unredacted voter registration lists. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit, joining a trend where 27 out of 30 similar lawsuits filed against states and the District of Columbia have been rejected by the courts.
Floyd explained that because the state refused to provide unredacted rolls, the Department of Homeland Security cross-referenced publicly available voter lists with government data to identify the alleged noncitizens. However, the secretary of state’s office warned that such methods often mistakenly flag legitimate U.S. citizens, potentially disenfranchising eligible voters.
This action mirrors recent efforts in California, where the Justice Department requested that election officials separate mail ballots from 20,000 individuals it claims are likely noncitizens. A federal court hearing regarding the California dispute is scheduled for Tuesday, though the Justice Department has not yet filed a formal lawsuit against Washington state.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
