US Attorney blasts WA Secretary of State over noncitizen ballots as official struggles to explain lack of citizenship checks

In an October 29 statement, Floyd said Washington’s practices threaten election integrity and expose noncitizens to potential criminal prosecution and immigration consequences.

“They are knowingly sending out ballots to non-citizens and trusting that the non-citizens will not fill out the ballot,” Floyd said.

The statement follows Hobbs’ rejection of a federal request to segregate ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens pending verification of their citizenship. Federal prosecutors said they identified 405 suspected noncitizens associated with more than 1,500 ballots cast in previous Washington elections. Hobbs disputes the list’s accuracy, saying it includes American citizens and other flawed entries.

In an exchange with KOMO News reporter Jeremy Harris, Hobbs was repeatedly asked how he could confidently characterize noncitizen voting as rare without checking citizenship.

“How can you make that claim that this is not a widespread issue, when by your own admission the state's not checking this?” Harris asked.

Hobbs cited 15 detected cases dating back to 1982, then shifted to other election issues, including signature problems and ballots rejected because of late postmarks.

“But if you're not checking, how do you know it's not a widespread issue?” Harris asked. “And why not then share the voter rolls with the DOJ as they're asking, so they can do it?”

Hobbs argued that releasing the requested information would violate federal privacy protections and pointed to court decisions rejecting demands for voter information. He said his office could work with federal investigators using publicly available data.

He also described a process requiring evidence and an opportunity for voters to respond before removal from the rolls, warning that citizens can be incorrectly accused of being noncitizens.

Harris returned to the central question.

“But you're still not answering the question here, which I think is fundamental, which is, how do you know this isn't a widespread issue if it's not being checked?”

“Well, look, again, people attest to this every single time,” Hobbs responded.

After again citing the 15 cases, Hobbs acknowledged that noncitizens appear on Washington’s voter rolls.

“I do know that there are non-citizens that do show up in the rolls,” he said. “But the question is, are they actually voting? That is a crime.”

However, Blaine immigration attorney Len Saunders has described encountering these issues repeatedly. In an October 27 KUOW report, Saunders said erroneous registration among green-card holders was not unusual and that dozens of people had contacted him in recent months because they faced scrutiny or feared deportation over registration or voting issues. Separately, he told The Canadian Press that he had previously helped Canadians who had registered or voted address those issues during the citizenship process.

Hobbs argued that the threat of consequences for their citizenship prospects discourages noncitizens from voting.

Floyd’s statement challenged that reasoning, saying investigators had interviewed noncitizens who interpreted receiving a ballot as permission to participate.

“The non-citizens we have interviewed tell us that they assumed they could vote because the state sent them a ballot,” Floyd said.

He warned that registering noncitizens, including without their knowledge, could jeopardize their ability to become citizens.

“At a minimum, Secretary Hobbs should be concerned about the non-citizens Washington is subjecting to possible criminal prosecution and adverse immigration consequences,” Floyd said.

Hobbs’ October 28 written response said the federal list contained duplicate entries, inactive registrations and people who were no longer registered. He requested individualized evidence before election officials declined to process a registered voter’s ballot.

The federal request sought to temporarily segregate ballots pending citizenship verification. Hobbs’ discussion with Harris also addressed the separate process of removing people from voter rolls.

Floyd maintained Thursday that the state must act.

“There is no longer ANY doubt that ballots are being sent to non-citizens,” he said. “The only questions are how many illegal votes are being counted in Washington and what will the state do about it.”

He concluded: “Washington clearly has no intention or ability to identify non-citizens and remove them from the voter rolls.”