Federal prosecutors demand Washington state hold 400 ballots

The Justice Department has identified more than 400 registered voters in Washington whom it believes are not U.S. citizens. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd sent a letter Monday to the state secretary of state demanding the review of those ballots before the election next week.

Floyd stated in a news release that his office found over 400 noncitizens who were registered to vote and had participated in multiple elections. He described this number as the tip of the iceberg and promised continued investigations into individuals he said were committing crimes by voting illegally.

The request gives Washington officials 24 hours to check citizenship records for the individuals on the list. The Justice Department shared a letter with NBC News that outlines this deadline. This demand arrives one week before the general election.

Washington state has more than 5 million people on its voter rolls. The state refused to share unredacted voter rolls with the Justice Department earlier this year. Floyd criticized that decision on Monday, arguing it made the federal review process more time-consuming.

In an interview with radio host Jason Rantz, Floyd explained that his team compared lists of permanent legal residents, such as green card holders, against voter registration records. This method is how they flagged the potential noncitizens.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said his office is reviewing the list. However, his spokesperson, Helen Smith, confirmed in an email that Hobbs is critical of the timing. Hobbs said in a statement that he wants to follow due process and avoid the harassment seen in California.

Hobbs argued that the one-week window before the election is intended to cast suspicion on the results. He noted that while noncitizens do appear on rolls, few actually vote because it is a crime that can lead to deportation. He also pointed out that newly naturalized citizens are often flagged due to the lack of a comprehensive national citizenship database.

The federal push in Washington mirrors a similar effort in California. The Justice Department previously asked California to sequester ballots for 20,000 suspected noncitizens. An appeals court ruled Monday against the administration in that case, finding that the Justice Department did not give the lower court a proper chance to review the claims. Election experts say federal law does not give the Justice Department authority to intervene in state ballot counting.