The U.S. department of Justice has identified more than 400 non-citizens registered to vote in Washington state. State authorities are currently reviewing these records as the 2026 midterm elections approach.
How Washington's Motor Voter program enrolled non-citizens
The U.S. Department of Justice discovered that many of the flagged individuals were lawful permanent residents who were added to voter rolls without their knowledge. According to the DOJ notice, this occurred through Washington's Motor Voter program, which automatically links driver's license applications to voter registration. This system inadvertently enrolled green card holders who are legally ineligible to cast ballots in federal elections.
While the current list identifies over 400 people, the Department of Justice estimates that the actual number of non-citizens who may have voted in Washington could be in the thousands. The federal agency arrived at these figures by cross-referencing federal immigration records with state voter registration data, a process that has already uncovered approximately 1,500 instances of non-citizens casting votes.
The 400 identified voters and the 113 million ballot baseline
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd reported that some of the identified non-citizen voters have been active in the system since 1984, with a few individuals casting ballots more than twenty times over several decades. This indicates a long-term failure in the state's verification process for those utilizing the Motor Voter system.
However, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs has placed these numbers in a broader perspective to argue against the claim of systemic fraud. As reported in the source, the Secretary of State's office noted that Washington has cast more than 113 milion ballots since 1984, suggesting that the few hundred identified cases represent a statistically negligible fraction of the total vote.
Steve Hobbs' objection to the October 10 deadline
A significant point of contention has emerged regarding the timing of the federal government's intervention. The Department of Justice sent its request to set aside ballots just one week before the October 10, 2026 general election , a window when election workers were already focused on processing and archiving mail-in ballots.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs described the DOJ's request as "unfounded suspicion." The Washington state government is now conducting a preliminary review to determine if the ballots of the listed individuals should be rejected or if they should remain intact to protect the rights of eligible voters who may have been wrongly flagged.
The California parallel and the 20,000 ballot lawsuit
The investigation in Washington mirrors a recent legal battle in California, where a lawsuit sought to prevent the counting of over 20,000 mail-in ballots allegedly cast by non-citizens. In that instance, a federal appeals court declined to intervene, characterizing the Department of Justice's emergency request as "self-constructed."
Legal analysts suggest that the current focus on Washington is part of a wider strategy by the Trump administration to highlight isolated cases of non-citizen voting as evidence of broader election misconduct. Despite these efforts , data from state and federal sources consistently indicate that non-citizen voting remains rare and does not typically impact election outcomes.
Who faces criminal charges beyond voting violations?
The Department of Justice has indicated that the consequences for those on the list may extend far beyond the removal of their ballots. Some individuals may face criminal charges for fraudulent voter registration or for making false statements on naturalization applications,which could jeopardize their path to U.S. citizenship.
Furthermore, the DOJ has signaled that some individuals on the list may be investigated for unrelated crimes, including burglary and fraud. It remains unclear exactly how many of the 400 identified individuals are being targeted for these additional criminal charges, as the federal government has not yet released a detailed breakdown of the specific offenses linked to the voter list.
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