Justice Department orders Washington to hold 400 ballots pending citizenship check

Washington state election officials must review a list of more than 400 registered voters within 24 hours to determine if they are noncitizens. The Justice Department requested the state sequester any ballots cast by these individuals in next week's general election. This action places immediate administrative pressure on the state's voting infrastructure days before the vote is counted.

Neil Floyd, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, issued the request on Monday. He stated that his office identified over 400 noncitizens who were registered to vote and had participated in multiple elections. Floyd described this group as the tip of the iceberg and vowed to continue identifying voters he believes are committing crimes by voting illegally.

The move targets Washington, a state with more than 5 million voters on its rolls. The Justice Department sent a letter to state election officials granting them a 24-hour window to cross-reference the provided list with citizenship records. This short deadline creates a logistical challenge for state staff who must verify individual status before ballots are finalized.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs criticized the timing of the request. In a statement, Hobbs said his office takes the protection of voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. He noted that the request arrived one week before the general election and implied the timing was intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results.

Helen Smith, a spokesperson for Hobbs, confirmed in an email that the office is reviewing the list. She added that the state refused to share unredacted voter rolls with the Justice Department earlier this year. Floyd argued that this refusal made his office's work more time-consuming during its investigation.

In an interview with conservative radio host Jason Rantz published Monday, Floyd explained how his team identified the suspects. He said his office compared lists of permanent legal residents, such as green card holders, against voter registration records. This methodology aims to flag individuals who appear on both lists, suggesting they may lack citizenship despite being registered.

The request follows a similar legal strategy in California. Last week, the Justice Department claimed 20,000 noncitizens were on California's voter rolls and gave the state 48 hours to review their list. The administration subsequently sued to prevent California from counting those ballots. An appeals court ruled against the administration on Monday, stating that the Justice Department had not given the lower court a sufficient opportunity to review its claims.

Los Angeles County election officials filed a legal document stating that the Justice Department's list for California appeared to derive from old voting lists. They noted the list included many apparent U.S. citizens whose registrations listed U.S. places of birth. This dispute highlights the difficulty in verifying citizenship status due to the lack of a comprehensive national list of U.S. citizens.

Noncitizens do occasionally end up on voter rolls, but relatively few cast ballots because it is a crime that can incur serious penalties, including deportation. Newly naturalized citizens are frequently flagged as noncitizens in voting records because their citizenship status may not yet be updated in local databases. The Justice Department's current focus on Washington represents a continued effort to involve the federal government in state-level election processes.

The administration has pursued other legal avenues to influence election outcomes. Last week, it sued Alaska over a Senate candidate's name matching the incumbent Republican, Dan Sullivan. The suit seeks to block certification of the race unless the incumbent wins. Election experts have noted that nothing in federal law grants the Justice Department authority to intervene in election certification or ballot counting.