Federal prosecutors seek to hold 405 Washington ballots until citizenship is verified

Federal prosecutors in Washington state asked the state's top election official on Monday to set aside ballots cast by 405 registered voters who they allege are not U.S. citizens. The request arrived one week before the November 3 general election, forcing election officials to review the status of these individuals within a 48-hour window.

Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd and federal prosecutor Pete Serrano stated that the 405 people on the list are believed to be permanent residents who hold legal immigration status but lack citizenship. Floyd estimated that more than 1,500 ballots have been cast by these individuals since their registration. The prosecutors provided the Secretary of State with a list identifying the last time each person voted, with some records dating back to the 1990s.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs confirmed his office received the letter from the Justice Department. He noted that the federal list includes multiple records for individuals who appear to have last voted in 1994. Hobbs pointed out that more than 113 million ballots have been cast in the state since that time, raising questions about the accuracy of the federal data. His office warned that the system used by the Justice Department can mistakenly flag legitimate U.S. citizens as noncitizens.

The federal team threatened to seek emergency relief from a court if the state did not implement the ballot segregation process by Wednesday. They instructed election officials not to tabulate any ballots from the 405 individuals until their citizenship status is confirmed. A second list of alleged noncitizens is expected from the Department of Homeland Security shortly, which will also be shared with state officials.

The dispute follows a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration last year to obtain Washington's unredacted voter registration list. A federal judge ruled in the administration's favor last month, allowing the state to keep the full list. The administration has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for similar records. Federal judges have dismissed 27 of those lawsuits, with three cases still pending and one voluntarily dismissed.

Floyd told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security compared a publicly available list of Washington registered voters with government data to identify the alleged noncitizens. The Justice Department then investigated whether those individuals had cast ballots in the state. This action mirrors a similar effort in California, where the Justice Department sought to block the tabulation of 20,000 mail ballots from alleged noncitizens.

Hobbs said the timing of the request is intended to cast suspicion on the election results. He emphasized that thousands of voters already face ballot rejections due to delayed postmarks. The Justice Department has not yet filed a lawsuit in Washington to force the separation of mail ballots from the 405 alleged noncitizens.