DOJ Demands Washington Sequester Ballots From Suspected Noncitizens
The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding Washington state set aside ballots from over 400 suspected noncitizens amid a broader federal campaign against voter fraud.
The United States Department of Justice has ordered Washington state officials to segregate ballots from more than 400 individuals suspected of being noncitizens. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd claimed these individuals have voted in multiple previous elections, describing the group as the "tip of the iceberg." The federal government has also issued over 60 subpoenas for voter records and announced the deployment of monitors to King County.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs has rebuffed the demands, arguing that noncitizen voting is incredibly rare in the state. Hobbs criticized the timing of the request—occurring one week before the November 3 election—as an attempt to cast "unfounded suspicion on the results." He noted that some flagged individuals are likely citizens and that the federal data is outdated, citing one record from 1994. In response to federal tensions, Governor Bob Ferguson has offered National Guard members to help counties protect ballot drop boxes.
This effort mirrors a broader federal campaign under President Donald Trump to target noncitizen voting. In California, the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block the counting of 20,000 suspected noncitizen ballots, though a federal judge in Oakland labeled the government's list as "flawed." Santa Clara County officials also refused DOJ demands for confidential voter data, citing a lack of judicial warrants. Similar efforts in Nevada previously saw a claim of 16,000 noncitizen voters reduced to 185, all of whom were later found to be citizens.
