Justice Department requests Washington to withhold ballots from over 400 suspected noncitizen voters
The Justice Department asked Washington state to set aside any ballots cast by more than 400 individuals it believes may not be U.S. citizens, pending verification of their eligibility.
The Justice Department sent a letter to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office asking the state to hold any ballots that might be cast by more than 400 people it suspects are not U.S. citizens. The agency said it had identified about 1,500 votes cast by those individuals in previous elections and wants the ballots for the upcoming midterm elections set aside until eligibility can be confirmed.
"We are asking the state to set aside those ballots until we can confirm they are legal voters," Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said at a news conference.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said his office is reviewing the request and noted it has received roughly 60 subpoenas from the Justice Department since last month. He added that the office will respond only to requests that follow due process and expressed concern about potential harassment of voters.
"We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process," Hobbs said in an emailed statement.
The request follows similar actions in California, where a Justice Department demand to sequester mail ballots from up to 20,000 suspected noncitizens is being challenged in federal court. Judges have questioned the timing, constitutionality and authority of the department’s demand, citing the Elections Clause that gives state legislatures authority over election procedures.
In a related case, Los Angeles County staff reviewed a sample of 200 records from the department’s list and found many entries were canceled, inactive, or belonged to individuals born in the United States. The Justice Department indicated it may provide Washington with an additional list before Election Day and noted that some suspects may have become naturalized citizens.
Previous investigations in Nevada and Arizona found far fewer noncitizen voters than the administration’s estimates, highlighting the rarity of such voting violations.