DOJ Asks WA to Set Aside 400 Ballots of Alleged Noncitizens
The Trump administration has asked Washington state officials to set aside ballots that may have been cast by non-U.S. citizens in next week’s election.
Neil Floyd, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, asked the state’s election office to review a list of more than 400 people whom the Justice Department suspects are not U.S. citizens. He also asked officials to set aside any ballots cast by those individuals.
Floyd said the department believes these people registered to vote and voted in several elections. He added that investigators would continue looking for possible cases of illegal voting.
The request came on the same day the Trump administration faced a setback in its effort to have California officials set aside thousands of ballots suspected of being cast by noncitizens.
NBC News previously reported that the Justice Department was considering making similar requests to other states that send mail-in ballots to all registered voters.
In a letter to Washington election officials, the department gave the state 24 hours to check the list against citizenship records.
Washington has more than 5 million registered voters. The state refused to give the Justice Department an unredacted copy of its voter registration records earlier this year. Floyd said this decision made his investigation more difficult.
In a recent interview with conservative radio host Jason Rantz, Floyd said his office compared voter registration records with lists of permanent legal residents, including people who hold green cards.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office is reviewing the list, according to spokesperson Helen Smith.
However, Hobbs criticized the federal government’s request. He said the state would protect voters’ personal information and only respond to requests that follow proper legal procedures.
Hobbs also questioned why the request came just one week before the general election. He said the timing could create unfair suspicion about the election and cause problems for Washington residents.
Noncitizen Voting Is Rare, Studies Show
Non-U.S. citizens can sometimes appear on voter registration lists, but only a small number actually vote. Voting in federal elections as a noncitizen is a crime that can lead to serious penalties, including deportation.
Officials may also mistakenly identify naturalized U.S. citizens as noncitizens. One reason is that the country does not have a complete, centralized list of all U.S. citizens.
Last week, the Justice Department said it believed about 20,000 noncitizens were listed as registered voters in California. It gave the state 48 hours to review its list and asked officials to set aside ballots linked to those individuals.
The administration later filed a lawsuit seeking to stop California from counting those ballots.
However, an appeals court ruled against the administration on Monday. The court said the lower court had not been given an opportunity to properly review the government’s claims.
Los Angeles County election officials also challenged the federal government’s list in court. They said it appeared to rely on old voter records and included many people who seemed to be U.S. citizens.
More Legal Fights Over Election Rules
The Trump administration has taken other legal steps involving elections.
Last week, the Justice Department sued Alaska over a Senate race involving a candidate who has the same first and last name as Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. The lawsuit seeks to prevent officials from certifying the election results unless Sullivan wins re-election.
Election experts told NBC News that the administration’s lawsuits could face serious legal challenges. They said federal law does not clearly give the Justice Department the power to interfere with ballot counting or the official certification of election results.
The latest dispute adds to growing tensions between the Trump administration and state officials over election rules, voter registration and the counting of ballots.