Justice Department Demands Washington State Hold 405 Ballots Over Citizenship Dispute

The U.S. Department of Justice has pressured Washington state election officials to segregate more than 400 ballots cast by voters it alleges are noncitizens, even as federal correspondence concedes that some individuals on the list may have since obtained American citizenship. The late-stage intervention arrived on the eve of Election Day, prompting civic and labor organizations to file an emergency federal lawsuit seeking to halt the directive.

The legal challenge, lodged in U.S. District Court in Seattle by OneAmerica Votes, the Latino Community Fund of Washington State, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, argues that the administration lacks legal authority to dictate ballot-counting procedures to state election administrators. The complaint further alleges that the federal directives utilize the threat of prosecution to intimidate local election workers and naturalized voters.

The Washington dispute is part of a broader nationwide effort by federal prosecutors in the closing weeks of the midterm elections to intervene in state-run voting processes. In California, the department sought to segregate ballots from more than 20,000 individuals flagged as prospective noncitizens, a request rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday evening. Meanwhile, an Alaskan federal judge dismissed a separate administration bid to block certification of a Senate race. Federal courts have consistently turned down the administration’s pre-election segregation requests.

The Washington directive stems from an October 26 letter signed by Pete Serrano, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, and Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington. The correspondence asserted that the Department of Homeland Security identified more than 400 registered individuals who were not citizens and had collectively cast over 1,500 ballots, including in the August primary. Prosecutors demanded that county officials withhold signature verification or counting for any returned ballots until citizenship statuses were verified, warning of emergency legal action upon noncompliance.

At a joint news conference, Floyd explained that federal agents gathered names by questioning noncitizen detainees and border crossers regarding voting participation, subsequently cross-referencing responses with federal immigration databases and public voter rolls. Prosecutors also indicated they anticipated issuing a second list prior to the general election.

However, a parenthetical sentence within the DOJ letter itself acknowledged that individuals listed “are or were noncitizens” but “may have subsequently naturalized.” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs responded on October 28 stating that state reviews found the federal list unreliable and inclusive of U.S. citizens. Hobbs noted the federal submission arrived as a PDF printout lacking crucial voter identification numbers and addresses, with one record dating back to 1994.

A declaration by state elections director Stuart Holmes identified 403 unique individuals on the federal list of 405, noting that at least 62 of those named had not even been sent ballots due to inactive or canceled registrations. Floyd acknowledged limitations during his briefing, describing the subjects as a tiny population gathered through individual contacts and conceding that some named individuals stated they never returned a ballot.

Represented by the Elias Law Group, the plaintiff organizations asked U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead for an emergency injunction on Monday. Abha Khanna, a partner at the firm, characterized the federal demand as unlawful intimidation directed at election administrators.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle declined to comment on the pending litigation, pointing instead to Floyd’s prior statement defending the enforcement action. Floyd asserted that Washington was knowingly distributing ballots to noncitizens while relying solely on voter attestations rather than mandatory documentary proof of citizenship.

Because Washington conducts voting by mail and processes postmarked ballots for days following the close of polls, the legal battle is expected to extend beyond Election Day. Subsequent rulings from Judge Whitehead, the delivery of the promised secondary federal list, or direct federal litigation against the state remain anticipated variables as the count continues.