400 ballots: Washington has 24 hours to review DOJ list
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd demands the state sequester votes from registrants suspected of being noncitizens, a move that follows a legal loss in California.
By Charlotte Dubois ·
Washington state election officials have 24 hours to review a list of more than 400 voters flagged by the federal government. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd sent the request to the Secretary of State on Monday, demanding that the state sequester any ballots cast by these individuals. This action occurs one week before the General Election and targets a Democratic-led state in the 2026 midterms.
Floyd stated in a news release that the Justice Department has identified over 400 non-citizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. He described the current list as only the tip of the iceberg. The Department plans to continue investigating and identifying individuals it believes are committing crimes by voting illegally.
The federal demand arrived the same day the Trump administration faced a setback in California. An appeals court ruled against the Justice Department, which had sought to prevent the state from counting thousands of ballots. The court found that the Department had not given the lower court a proper opportunity to review its claims. Los Angeles County election officials previously noted that the federal list appeared to rely on old data and included many U.S. citizens.
In a letter shared with NBC News, the Justice Department instructed Washington to check citizenship records for the listed registrants. Floyd criticized the state for refusing to share unredacted voter rolls earlier this year. He said this refusal made his office's work more time-consuming. During a Monday interview with conservative radio host Jason Rantz, Floyd explained that his team checked lists of permanent legal residents, such as green card holders, against voter registration records.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is reviewing the list, according to spokesperson Helen Smith. Hobbs criticized the timing of the request in a statement. He said the state takes its responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. Hobbs noted that Washington has more than 5 million voters on its rolls.
Hobbs expressed concern that the timing, one week before the General Election, was intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. He added that the state does not want Washingtonians to be harassed, pointing to the recent events in California as a cautionary example.
Noncitizens occasionally appear on voter rolls, though relatively few cast ballots. Voting as a noncitizen is a crime with a paper trail and can result in serious penalties, including deportation. Newly naturalized citizens are frequently flagged in these records because there is no comprehensive list of U.S. citizens. The Justice Department previously claimed there were 20,000 noncitizens on California's voter rolls.
The administration has also sought to intervene in other state elections. Last week, at the suggestion of President Donald Trump, the Justice Department sued Alaska over a Senate race. The suit asks a court to block certification of the race unless the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, wins re-election. Election experts told NBC News that these lawsuits are on shaky ground because federal law does not grant the Justice Department authority to intervene in election certification or ballot counting.
