The Trump administration asked Washington state on Monday, October 26, 2026, to set aside ballots from more than 400 people it suspects are registered to vote without U.S. citizenship, ahead of the midterm elections. The request is the latest federal action over Washington noncitizen voter ballots, according to The Hindu.
In a letter to the office of Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, the Justice Department said it had identified 1,500 votes cast by more than 400 people in prior elections, according to The Hindu. The department asked the state to set aside any ballots these people might cast in next month’s midterm until officials confirm they are legally eligible to vote. Washington has more than 5 million registered voters.
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said the 405 voters identified so far represented "the tip of the iceberg," according to the Guardian. Floyd said the state’s limits on the investigation meant only a fraction of the total number had been uncovered.
The Justice Department gave the state 24 hours to review the list for citizenship records, according to a letter shared with NBC News.
Hobbs said in a statement that the state will respond only to requests that follow due process and that Washingtonians should not be harassed, according to NBC News. A spokesperson, Helen Smith, confirmed that the Secretary of State’s office is reviewing the request. No decision on whether the state will comply has been reported.
The request follows a similar Justice Department demand that California sequester mail ballots from up to 20,000 people it suspects may not be citizens. On Monday, a federal appeals panel declined to rule on the expedited timeline in that case and sent the matter back to a lower court.
Earlier cases show a mixed record. In Nevada, the administration alleged 1,500 potential noncitizen voters, but a subsequent investigation found zero. In Maricopa County, Arizona, 207 possible noncitizens were announced, and the Republican County Attorney determined there were eight. Investigations into prior allegations have found far fewer cases than the administration claimed, and noncitizen voting is described as exceptionally rare.
The list of 405 voters has not been independently verified, and the sources do not say how many of them cast ballots in the upcoming election. The sources also include no Justice Department response to Hobbs’ criticism of the timing. Floyd’s claim that federal officers routinely check whether people they contact are registered comes from a single source and is not independently confirmed. The Hindu article was the only full text available, with the Guardian and NBC News reports available only as excerpts, and no Washington election officials beyond Hobbs and Smith were quoted.
The Justice Department said it expects to send an additional list of suspected noncitizens before Election Day. The California case continues in the lower court.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.