Justice Department Orders Washington to Review 400 Ballots

The Justice Department demanded that Washington state hold 400 ballots pending a citizenship review. The request arrived on Monday, one week before the state holds its General Election. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd sent a letter to the Washington secretary of state. He asked officials to check a list of more than 400 registered voters. The Justice Department believes these individuals are noncitizens. Floyd instructed the state to sequester any ballots cast by those on the list.

Floyd stated in a news release that the group includes people who voted in multiple elections. He described the current findings as the tip of the iceberg. The office plans to continue identifying voters it claims are committing crimes by voting illegally. The federal government gave the state 24 hours to review the list for citizenship records. This deadline is shorter than the 48 hours the department gave to California officials last week.

Neil Floyd serves as the acting U.S. attorney in Washington. He noted that the state refused to share unredacted voter rolls with the Justice Department this year. He said that decision made his team's work more time consuming. In an interview with radio host Jason Rantz, Floyd explained the search method. His office compared voter registration records against lists of permanent legal residents. This included checking for green card holders.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is reviewing the list. His spokesperson, Helen Smith, confirmed the review in an email. Hobbs criticized the timing of the request in a statement. He said the state takes the protection of voter information seriously. Hobbs noted that Washington will only respond to requests that follow due process. He pointed to the recent legal battle in California as a warning. He stated that the one week timeline is intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results.

Washington has more than 5 million voters on its rolls. Noncitizens sometimes appear on these lists due to record keeping gaps. Newly naturalized citizens are frequently flagged because there is no comprehensive federal list of U.S. citizens. Voting while a noncitizen is a crime with a paper trail. Penalties can include deportation. However, relatively few noncitizens actually cast ballots when flagged.

The move in Washington followed a legal setback in California. An appeals court ruled Monday against the Trump administration in that case. The court said the Justice Department did not give the lower court a fair chance to review its claims. The administration had sued to keep California from counting ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens. Los Angeles County election officials filed a legal document questioning the source of the list. They said it appeared to come from old voting lists and included many apparent U.S. citizens.

The administration has taken other legal actions regarding the midterms. Last week, the Justice Department sued Alaska over a Senate race. The suit was based on a suggestion from President Donald Trump. It involves a Democratic candidate who shares the same first and last name as the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan. The court was asked to block certification of the race unless the incumbent wins. Election experts told NBC News that federal law does not give the Justice Department authority to intervene in ballot counting or certification.