Washington defies DOJ attempt to purge ballots with flimsy noncitizen list
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State officials said a federal list of alleged noncitizens was riddled with U.S. citizens, inactive voters, and unregistered people, and they refused to let the government sabotage ballot processing without individualized proof of ineligibility.
Washington state officials said a preliminary review of a federal list of more than 400 people labeled as noncitizens exposed a deeply flawed and potentially dangerous effort to interfere with voting rights, finding numerous United States citizens, inactive voters, and individuals not currently registered. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs disclosed the findings after the Department of Justice tried to pressure the state into stopping ballot processing tied to the list supplied by the Department of Homeland Security.
Hobbs wrote that the list “includes United States citizens and is not reliable,” and argued that refusing to process a registered voter’s ballot without individualized proof would be “both irresponsible and illegal.” He noted that many names on the list are either unregistered or have inactive registrations, directly undermining the DOJ’s implication that all would receive ballots in the upcoming election and showing how reckless mass accusations can threaten legitimate voters.
The DOJ letter claimed the list identified people who, “with a high level of confidence,” had voted in Washington elections and demanded the state review the list within 24 hours, instructing officials not to verify or tabulate any ballot from listed voters until citizenship could be confirmed. The department also threatened to seek emergency relief if the state did not comply, escalating a bureaucratic fishing expedition into an intimidation campaign against the voting process.
Hobbs criticized the DOJ’s submission, stating that federal officials provided no explanation of data collection methods, omitted voter identification numbers and addresses, and delivered the list as a PDF spreadsheet rather than a usable electronic file. He also pointed out factual errors, such as the DOJ’s incorrect reference to Election Day as Nov. 2 instead of Nov. 3, underscoring the sloppiness of an attack built on speculation rather than evidence.
Citing the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, Hobbs argued that halting ballots based solely on the unverified list could violate federal law. He invited the DOJ to provide individualized evidence against any voter it believes is ineligible, emphasizing that “these processes require proof, not just allegations.”