The Federal List of 405 Voters and the Citizenship Question
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs has publicly challenged a list provided by the Department of Justice, asserting that his office has confirmed American citizens are among the 405 individuals flagged as potentially ineligible voters. In a letter sent Wednesday to acting U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Neil Floyd and First Assistant United States Attorney for Eastern Washington Pete Serrano, Hobbs signaled that the state would not remove these individuals from the voter rolls without concrete, individualized proof of ineligibility.
The core of this dispute lies in the Department of Justice’s claim that it has identified 1,500 ballots—a figure described by federal prosecutors as the “tip of the iceberg”—that were allegedly cast illegally by noncitizens in Washington. However, the state’s top election official argues that the federal agency’s data contains significant, glaring deficiencies. Hobbs noted that his office’s preliminary review of the 405-person list revealed that many of those identified are either not currently registered to vote or are already on inactive status, directly contradicting the implication that these individuals would cast ballots in the upcoming midterm elections.
The Statistical Context of Voter Eligibility
The Department of Justice has requested that Washington set aside ballots from the flagged individuals while their eligibility is verified. Yet, the historical data suggests that documented cases of noncitizen voting are exceptionally rare. Between 1982 and 2025, Washington identified only 15 cases of noncitizen voting. When measured against the 113.5 million primary and general election ballots cast in the state since 1994, this represents a rate of 0.000006%.
Hobbs emphasized that his office maintains regular consultations with the DOJ leading up to elections, making the sudden, public nature of this announcement particularly concerning. “If you had valid concerns about voter registrations, the time to raise them was months ago,” Hobbs wrote in his letter. “Your decision to wait until the eve of an election and announce those concerns at a press conference instead of timely providing the list and any corroborating evidence to my office is not a sign of good faith to ensure a free, fair, and accurate election.”
DOJ Investigation Fuels Standoff with Washington State
The Department of Justice has not yet brought formal charges against any individuals for illegally voting in Washington state elections. While federal prosecutors maintain they have “high confidence” in their investigation, the lack of transparency regarding their methodology has fueled a standoff between state and federal authorities. Hobbs pointed to recent DOJ actions in California and Alaska as evidence of a pattern, noting that in California, the DOJ’s claim that 19,000 noncitizens were registered to vote was followed by state analysis showing that a high percentage of those individuals were, in fact, born in the United States.
“Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot,” Hobbs wrote. “If you have individualized proof, I invite you to provide it so election officials can take appropriate steps that are consistent with federal and state law.”
Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, confirmed that federal prosecutors had received the letter from the Secretary of State but declined to offer further comment on the next steps. The state maintains that its existing safeguards are sufficient to ensure that only eligible voters participate, while the federal government continues to press for the isolation of specific ballots.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs on Wednesday rejected a federal demand to stop counting ballots from voters the Justice Department says are noncitizens. https://t.co/oIosSQZirz
