Sign in Subscribe
Politics

After losing in California, Trump's DOJ targets 405 Washington voters' ballots

Prosecutors threaten emergency court action by Oct. 28. Washington found 15 noncitizen voting cases in 43 years, Hobbs says.

After losing in California, Trump's DOJ targets 405 Washington voters' ballots
Stock photo, not from the event described. Photo by Tiffany Tertipes on Unsplash

President Trump's Justice Department on Monday told Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to hold back the ballots of more than 400 voters it says are noncitizens, eight days before the Nov. 3 election. Hobbs's office says some of the people on the list are citizens and that one of the records dates to 1994.

The letter, dated Oct. 26, asks the state to review the list within 24 hours and tell election officials "to not verify the signature and/or tabulate the ballot" of anyone on it until citizenship can be determined. It gives the state until noon on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to confirm it has done so. If the state does not, the letter says, the United States "will have no choice but to seek emergency relief."

Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd of the Western District of Washington and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano of the Eastern District announced the demand at a press conference, KOMO News reported. Both are Trump appointees, and neither has been confirmed by the Senate, according to KUOW.

Where the list came from

The letter says the Department of Homeland Security supplied the names of people who, "with a high level of confidence," voted as recently as the August primary. It claims more than 400 people cast more than 1,500 ballots. It also concedes that the people listed "are or were noncitizens," which means some may have since become citizens.

Floyd said agents question detained noncitizens and border crossers about whether they have voted, then check the answers and immigration databases against public voter records, KOMO reported. "We are having to do this essentially one person at a time," he said.

DOJ has offered no public evidence behind the "high level of confidence" claim. Its own letter admits some listed people may now be citizens, and Hobbs's office says at least one record is more than 30 years old. Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco blocked most DHS election field operations in nine states, Washington among them, and wrote that "the initial target list data is voluminous and unreliable" (court order).

Floyd also said, "I am confident that we are looking at thousands of noncitizens who have been voting in Washington," KOMO reported. Nothing DOJ has released supports that; its letter lists about 400 people. Hobbs said on TVW last week that Washington found 15 cases of noncitizen voting from 1982 to 2025, KUOW reported. The state has more than 5.1 million registered voters.

No one has been charged, the Washington State Standard reported.

Hobbs: "We don't want Washingtonians to be harassed"

Hobbs, a Democrat, said his office is reviewing the request. In a statement, he said the timing "is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results." His office said DOJ's data system has flagged legitimate citizens as noncitizens.

"A lot of them, or some of them, actually have citizenship, so I don't know where they are getting their names from," Hobbs said at an election security forum in Federal Way, according to KOMO. He added that federal law bars removing people from the rolls in the 90 days before an election.

That rule is in the National Voter Registration Act, which says a state must finish any program "to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters" no later than 90 days before a federal election (52 U.S.C. § 20507(c)(2)(A)).

California went first

The Washington letter follows DOJ's lawsuit to stop California from counting about 20,000 mail ballots on a similar federal list. A Los Angeles County sample found about 1 in 4 flagged voters had a U.S. birthplace on file. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit threw out DOJ's emergency appeal 2-1, sending the case back to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter.

"We saw what happened in California and don't want Washingtonians to be harassed," Hobbs said, per the Standard.

Floyd's own post is contested. Western Washington's federal judges appointed Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney in July, and the administration fired him within an hour of his swearing-in, Courthouse News reported. The Ninth Circuit heard Rogoff v. Trump on Oct. 23.

We condemn DOJ's attempt to hold back ballots, days before Election Day, on a list its own letter admits may include citizens.

What Washington voters can do

Washington votes by mail. Sign in to VoteWA to see whether your ballot was received, accepted or challenged, or text VOTE to 868392 for alerts, the Secretary of State says. If your county contacts you about your ballot, answer right away.

About 20,000 August primary ballots were rejected over late postmarks, Hobbs's office says, so put your ballot in an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. If you are told you are not registered, you still have the right to a provisional ballot.

Sources

Read next

Comments ()