Justice Department Demands Washington Hold 400 Ballots in Pre-Election Move

The Justice Department demanded that Washington state sequester ballots cast by more than 400 suspected noncitizens on Monday. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd sent the request to the state secretary of state, giving election officials 24 hours to review citizenship records for the listed registrants. The move places federal oversight on mail ballots in the state ahead of the general election next week.

Floyd stated in a news release that the department has identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have participated in multiple elections. He described the list as the tip of the iceberg and vowed to continue investigating illegal voting. In an interview with conservative radio host Jason Rantz, Floyd explained that his office compared voter registration records against lists of permanent legal residents, such as green card holders, to identify potential matches.

The request follows a legal defeat for the administration in California earlier that same day. An appeals court ruled against the Trump administration in a lawsuit seeking to prevent the state from counting ballots from suspected noncitizens. The court determined that the Justice Department had not provided the lower court with a sufficient opportunity to review the federal claims. Los Angeles County election officials had argued that the federal list relied on outdated voting data and included many citizens with U.S. places of birth.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said his office is currently reviewing the list. Spokesperson Helen Smith confirmed the review in an email. Hobbs criticized the timing of the request in a statement, noting it arrived one week before the general election. He said the state takes responsibility for protecting voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. He added that the administration did not share unredacted voter rolls earlier in the year, which he said made the federal review process more time-consuming.

The state has more than 5 million voters on its rolls. Hobbs said the department's action was intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. He noted that noncitizens do appear on voter rolls occasionally, but relatively few cast ballots because the act is a crime with serious penalties, including deportation. He also pointed out that newly naturalized citizens are frequently flagged in voting records because there is no comprehensive federal list of U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department previously estimated that 20,000 noncitizens were on California's voter rolls. It gave California 48 hours to review that list before suing to keep the state from counting those ballots. Election experts told NBC News that federal law does not grant the Justice Department authority to intervene in election certification or ballot counting. The administration has also sued Alaska over a Senate candidacy dispute, asking a court to block certification unless the incumbent wins re-election.

Floyd’s office shared the letter with the state with NBC News. The document outlined the 24-hour deadline for the citizenship check. The state’s refusal to share unredacted voter rolls earlier this year was a point of contention between the two sides. The administration’s push to involve itself in ballot counting has expanded across multiple states in the weeks leading up to the midterms.