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Washington becomes second state threatened by Justice Department over mail ballots
The Department of Justice is now targeting Washington state, threatening election officials with legal action if they do not set aside ballots the Trump administration believes could be cast by noncitizens.
In a letter to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs that was obtained by MS NOW, the Justice Department said it found 400 alleged noncitizens who, “with a high level of confidence, have voted in elections” in the state.
The federal prosecutors demanded that Washington’s top election official review the list “within 24 hours” to determine whether there are citizens on it, and to set aside any ballots returned by suspected noncitizens. Acting U.S. Attorney in Washington Neil Floyd and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano told Hobbs to instruct local election officials “to not verify the signature and/or tabulate the ballot until citizenship can be determined.”
“The United States is concerned with the number of noncitizen voters, both enrolled and actively voting in the State of Washington, as allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes,” Floyd and Serrano wrote, adding that “we do make criminal referrals to our state counterparts.”
If the state’s top election official does not comply, the letter states, “the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief.” Washington began mailing ballots in mid-October.
With just seven days until Election Day, Washington is the second Democratic-led state to be targeted by the Trump administration with such a letter. The Justice Department sued California earlier this month over its refusal to segregate ballots from some 20,000 people the administration claims are noncitizens.
In another election challenge, the Justice Department sued Alaska last week to block the results of the U.S. Senate election if the Republican incumbent, whose Democratic challenger has the same name, does not win.
Federal prosecutors said in the letter to Washington state election officials that the “individuals identified are or were noncitizens,” adding that “they may have subsequently naturalized.” The department said it expects to soon receive “a second list of individuals believed to be noncitizens who are registered to vote” from the Department of Homeland Security that it will share with state election officials.
The letter includes several errors. The election date is wrong, written by the federal prosecutors as Nov. 2, 2026, when Election Day is Nov. 3. The federal attorneys also misspelled voter rolls, writing “voter roles” when referring to the Justice Department’s attempts to obtain sensitive voter data from the state.
In a press release Monday, Floyd said the 400 alleged noncitizens “are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections.”
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Floyd said. Many of the people on the list are lawful permanent residents or “green card” holders, Floyd’s office said.
The Washington secretary of state’s office said it is carefully reviewing the Justice Department’s request.
“We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We saw what happened in California and don’t want Washingtonians to be harassed.”
Hobbs said the timing of the request “is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. At the same time, thousands of voters were recently disenfranchised in our August Primary due to delayed postmarks.”
Helen Smith, a spokesperson for Hobbs, noted that the DOJ system frequently flags U.S. citizens as noncitizens, risking their right to vote.
The post Washington becomes second state threatened by Justice Department over mail ballots appeared first on MS NOW.
