The Trump administration claims it has identified more than 400 noncitizens who have been voting in Washington state elections.
In a letter sent Monday, the Department of Justice asked the Washington Secretary of State to not tabulate any ballots people on the list cast in next week’s midterm election until their citizenship can be confirmed.
“Without our help, the state of Washington does not have the capacity or the will to check if noncitizens are voting,” acting Western District U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said at a Monday news conference. “However, under the leadership of President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are determined to root out illegal voting.”
Floyd said the 405 alleged noncitizen voters had cast around 1,500 ballots in past state and federal elections, and that federal authorities identified them by analyzing publicly available lists of registered voters and immigration records.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs questioned the DOJ's findings.
“The timing of this request — one week before the General Election — is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results,” Hobbs said in a statement.
Hobbs said Washington’s elections are secure, and that cases of voter fraud, including noncitizen voting, are incredibly rare. Earlier this year, Hobbs said there have been just 15 cases of noncitizen voting in Washington between 1982 and 2025.
The system the Justice Department uses to identify noncitizen voters frequently flags actual U.S. citizens, Hobbs said, and also poses privacy concerns.
The DOJ told the state it expects to send the state a second list of individuals it suspects are noncitizen voters prior to the election. (The Justice Department’s letter to the state incorrectly said the general election is on Nov. 2; the election is, in fact, on Nov. 3.)
The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on the integrity of elections, and the DOJ’s request is the latest in the administration’s ongoing search for instances of voter fraud. Last month, a U.S. District Court judge ruled against the DOJ in a lawsuit seeking to compel Washington to hand over its voter rolls.
Floyd argued that the state’s refusal to share voter data has made his investigation more difficult.
“Because of limitations the state has placed on our investigation, we have only been able to uncover a fraction of the total number,” Floyd said.
Hobbs said his office takes voter privacy seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process.
The Justice Department has not brought criminal charges against any of the more than 400 people on its list, but Floyd said he anticipates that some of those people will be charged. Voting as a noncitizen is a felony that could result in fines and/or prison time.
In California, the Trump administration has warned that local election officials could face criminal charges if they tabulate ballots cast by people federal authorities have identified as noncitizens.
The Justice Department’s letter to the Secretary of State cites Washington’s law about the responsibility of county auditors and election workers to uphold voter registration law, adding that, while the Justice Department can’t enforce state law, it does “make criminal referrals to our state counterparts.”
Floyd declined to go into specifics when asked at Monday’s press conference if election workers who tabulate ballots from people on the list could face criminal charges.
“I’m not going to speculate about what [would] happen with any particular individuals,” Floyd said. “What I can tell you is what the law says: It is illegal under Section 611 for noncitizens to vote. Anyone that assists someone in voting illegally would be also guilty of that crime under an aiding and abetting theory.”
Floyd also declined to go into specifics about what will happen if the state does not comply with his request.
“If the state is doing what they say they do in all their press releases and trying to ensure fair and safe and accurate elections, they’ll take some action,” Floyd said. “If they don’t, then we will continue to provide them notice of those individuals that are noncitizens. And ultimately, if they don’t, we may have to take additional action. But I won’t go into what that would be at this time.”
