Washington elections chief says DOJ's 400-name noncitizen voter list includes citizens

Washington's top election official told the Justice Department on Wednesday that its list of about 400 alleged noncitizen voters is "not reliable." Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said many of the people named are U.S. citizens ¹.

Hobbs was answering a letter sent Monday by two federal prosecutors, Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano. They asked the state to set aside ballots from the people on the list and not count them until their citizenship could be verified ¹.

On tapeKOMO News · Oct 29

▶3:15

What Hobbs found

Hobbs said a preliminary check found that many people on the list are citizens. He said it also includes a "significant number" of people who are not currently registered or whose registrations are inactive ¹.

He said the Justice Department gave no information on how the names were gathered or from what sources. The list came as a PDF of a printed spreadsheet. It lacked fields such as voter ID number or address that would help officials check the records, and it had duplicate entries ¹.

Hobbs's office also said one of the roughly 400 records dates to 1994 ². Hobbs said the duplicates suggest the list was "created in a rushed manner" ¹.

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 warned that it would likely be unlawful for election workers to skip ballots because a name appears on what he called an "unverified" list ¹.

On tapeFOX 13 Seattle · Oct 29

▶2:39

What the prosecutors say

Floyd and Serrano claimed that many of the people are green-card holders. Those are immigrants with legal permanent status who are not citizens and cannot vote in federal elections ¹. They gave Hobbs 48 hours to comply and said the government would otherwise seek emergency relief ¹.

Floyd, the acting U.S. attorney for western Washington, told KOMO News he was confident in the list. He said "With the highest level of confidence I have, these are people that are registered to vote, have voted, and are not citizens" ². He also said it is too early to say whether anyone will be charged ².

State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh said the findings point to weak spots in the state's voter database, though he said ballot counting is generally secure ². As of Thursday afternoon, it did not appear that the Justice Department had filed a lawsuit ¹.

A second state, and a judge's rebuke

This is the second recent Justice Department demand of this kind. Earlier this month, the department asked California officials to separate ballots from 20,000 people it believes are noncitizens, then sued when they did not ¹.

On Wednesday night, a federal judge in California rejected the department's request. Judge David Carter criticized the way the list was made ¹.

Individuals who have met the requirements of California's voter registration laws must not be deprived of a core right merely because of unfounded allegations stemming from a procedure rife with uncertainty and errors.

That matters because Washington votes by mail. Voting has been underway since mid-October, and more than 1.3 million ballots had been returned as of Wednesday ¹. Any order to hold back ballots would hit voters who have already cast them.

The pattern is a list produced days before an election, with few details on how it was built. A voter wrongly flagged could see a ballot go uncounted. Hobbs called the possible harm to citizens the "tip of the iceberg" ¹.

The Record

1. Oct 26, 2026Federal prosecutors Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano sent Hobbs a letter asking that ballots from about 400 alleged noncitizens be set aside ¹².
2. Oct 28, 2026Hobbs replied that the list is "not reliable" and includes U.S. citizens ¹.
3. Oct 28, 2026A federal judge in California rejected the Justice Department's request to set aside ballots from 20,000 alleged noncitizens ¹.

Sources

1. CBS News, “U.S. citizens included on DOJ list of 400 alleged noncitizens, Washington says” (2026-10-29). cbsnews.com/news/u-s-citizens-included-on-justice-department
2. KOMO News (via KATV), “Department of Justice claims it found 400 non-citizens on Washington voter rolls” (2026-10-28). katv.com/news/nation-world/department-of-justice-washington-

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.