Justice Department asks Washington to review and sequester ballots of over 400 alleged non-citizen voters

The Justice Department on Monday asked Washington state officials to review a list of over 400 registered voters it says are non-citizens and to sequester any ballots those individuals may have cast in the upcoming general election. Acting U.S. attorney Neil Floyd said the department had identified the registrants through a check of permanent-resident records against voter rolls.

"We have identified over 400 non-citizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections," Floyd said in a news release. "This is only the tip of the iceberg. We will continue to investigate and identify those who are committing crimes by voting illegally."

The department gave Washington 24 hours to examine the list for citizenship status. State Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office is reviewing the request, spokesperson Helen Smith said, while Hobbs expressed concern about the timing.

"We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. We saw what happened in California and don’t want Washingtonians to be harassed," Hobbs said. "The timing of this request—one week before the General Election—is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results."

Washington, which has more than 5 million voters on its rolls, has declined to provide unredacted voter data to the Justice Department this year, a move Floyd criticized as slowing his office’s work. The request follows a recent legal setback for the administration in California, where a court rejected its effort to block the counting of thousands of ballots alleged to belong to non-citizens.

The Justice Department has previously claimed that thousands of non-citizens appear on voter rolls in other states, noting that newly naturalized citizens are sometimes mistakenly flagged. The agency’s broader effort to involve federal officials in ballot verification has also included a lawsuit against Alaska over a Senate candidacy, reportedly at President Donald Trump’s suggestion.