Justice Department asks Washington to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens

State secretary says timing casts unfounded suspicion on results

The Justice Department asked Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs on Monday to set aside any ballots that might be cast by more than 400 people the department alleges registered to vote without US citizenship. In a letter, the department said it had identified 1,500 votes cast by more than 400 people in prior elections and asked state officials to confirm their eligibility before counting any future ballots.

Washington has more than 5 million registered voters, and the state issues mail ballots to all of them. Hobbs said he was reviewing the request. His office noted that the data shared by the Justice Department included the last time each of the 405 people voted, with one person last voting in 1994.

At a news conference, Charles Neil Floyd, the acting US attorney in Seattle, said he believed the 405 voters identified so far represented “the tip of the iceberg.” He said, “Because of limitations the state has placed on our investigation, we’ve only been able to uncover a fraction of the total number.”

Floyd said much of the list was built from “recent contacts” with suspected noncitizens because federal officers now routinely check whether people they encounter are registered to vote. Without access to state records, he said, proving that someone illegally voted would be difficult.

The Justice Department demanded addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. It told Washington it expected to send an additional list before election day and noted that some people suspected of registering without citizenship might have become naturalized since appearing on the list.

Hobbs said, “The timing of this request – one week before the general election – is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results.” Separately, Washington officials said changes in US Postal Service operations had disenfranchised thousands of legitimate voters.

The Washington request came less than two weeks after a similar demand in California and was the third direct Justice Department challenge to a state that month as voting was under way. Washington, California and Alaska all have House or Senate races that will help determine the balance of power in Congress.

Among the country’s most competitive House races is Washington’s third congressional district. Democrats are counting on Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez winning reelection as a crucial part of their strategy for retaking the House majority. She has won twice in a district that also supported President Donald Trump each time he was on the ballot.

A separate lawsuit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification of the vote if the Republican incumbent does not win. That case is among the election disputes confronting federal and state officials as voting proceeds.

In California, the Justice Department sued as part of an effort to require the state to set aside mail ballots from up to 20,000 people the federal government suspects may not be citizens. A panel of federal appellate judges heard rare Sunday arguments and questioned the timing, constitutionality and authority of the Justice Department’s demand.

On Monday, the appeals panel declined to rule on the expedited timeline the Justice Department had requested and sent the case back to a lower court. The Elections Clause of the US Constitution gives state legislatures the power to set the time, place and manner of congressional elections.

Los Angeles County Assistant Registrar-Recorder Monica Flores said in a court filing that her staff examined a sample of 200 records from the Trump administration’s list. The sample included canceled or inactive registrations, people with no voting history and voters who appeared to have been born in the United States.

California officials characterized the appeals court’s decision as a victory for voting rights. State Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed to “fight back against the administration’s unlawful overreach at every turn.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of an assault on democracy.

The Guardian characterized the Washington request as the latest sign of the administration’s attempts to challenge states with competitive midterm races. It said noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare and that Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine public confidence in elections. Hobbs’s review was still pending.