Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs acknowledged that the state’s voter-registration system cannot definitively identify noncitizens, as federal prosecutors investigate allegations involving hundreds of potentially ineligible voters ahead of the Nov. 3 elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs acknowledged Thursday, Oct. 29, that the state lacks a system capable of independently determining whether every registered voter is a U.S. citizen, raising questions about voter eligibility verification as the Justice Department investigates allegations of illegal voting just days before the midterm elections.
“We don’t have a system that can identify whether someone is an actual noncitizen,” Hobbs said during a news conference in King County, according to KIRO 7 News.
The admission came amid an escalating dispute between Washington election officials and the Trump administration over a federal investigation identifying 405 individuals suspected of registering to vote despite lacking U.S. citizenship. Federal prosecutors allege the individuals may have participated in approximately 1,500 elections or voting instances over several decades.
Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd of Washington’s Western District and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano of the Eastern District sent a letter to Hobbs on Oct. 26 requesting that state officials verify the citizenship of the individuals and prevent their ballots from being counted until eligibility could be established.
Federal investigators said they obtained the information through the Department of Homeland Security and identified individuals they believe were improperly registered, including some who allegedly obtained voter registration through Washington’s motor-voter system.
The prosecutors warned that additional suspected noncitizen registrations could exist and threatened emergency legal action if state officials declined to comply with their request before Wednesday’s deadline.
Hobbs rejected the demand in an Oct. 28 letter to federal prosecutors, arguing that the government’s information contained significant errors and failed to establish that the identified individuals were ineligible to vote.
“A preliminary investigation confirms what your letter acknowledges: This list includes United States citizens and is not reliable,” Hobbs wrote.
“Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot.”
According to the secretary of state, Washington’s preliminary review found that some individuals identified by federal investigators were American citizens, while others were not currently registered or had inactive voter registrations.
Hobbs also criticized the format of the federal government’s records, noting that prosecutors submitted a PDF containing a printed spreadsheet rather than an electronic file that state election officials could readily analyze.
The list reportedly lacked identifying information such as voter registration numbers and residential addresses, complicating efforts to determine whether federal records matched individuals on Washington’s voter rolls.
Hobbs further identified duplicate entries and an incorrect election date in the Justice Department’s correspondence.
Despite rejecting the federal request, Hobbs acknowledged during Thursday’s news conference that Washington’s existing voter-registration procedures do not provide a definitive mechanism for identifying every noncitizen who may have entered the system.
His statement followed questions about cases involving foreign nationals who were reportedly registered to vote while obtaining state identification or driver’s licenses.
Washington operates an automatic voter-registration system that allows eligible residents to register when applying for or renewing certain state identification documents. Applicants must meet citizenship requirements, and registration information is checked against records maintained by the Department of Licensing and the Social Security Administration.
However, those verification procedures do not provide a comprehensive, independent citizenship determination for every registered voter.
Hobbs emphasized that Washington requires individuals to affirm their citizenship when registering and again when submitting mail ballots. Knowingly providing false citizenship information can result in criminal penalties.
State law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal and state elections, and voters must sign declarations affirming their eligibility under penalty of perjury.
Hobbs maintained that noncitizen voting is rare and defended existing safeguards, pointing to ongoing voter-roll maintenance procedures that identify discrepancies and remove registrations when legally justified.
“We look at the voter rolls for all kinds of discrepancies and we removed – I think we removed – 76,000 individuals from the voter rolls,” he told KIRO 7.
Those removals involve various registration issues and do not establish that 76,000 noncitizens were identified or removed.
The Justice Department’s investigation has increased scrutiny of Washington’s election procedures, particularly the state’s reliance on mail-in voting and automatic registration.
Under Washington law, ballots are mailed to active registered voters before Election Day. Election officials verify signatures and determine whether returned ballots satisfy applicable legal requirements before counting them.
Federal prosecutors have argued that potentially fraudulent registrations require additional scrutiny before ballots are tabulated, particularly in closely contested elections where small numbers of votes could influence results.
Washington officials counter that withholding ballots based solely on unverified federal allegations could disenfranchise eligible American citizens and violate federal voting protections.
Hobbs also questioned why the Justice Department waited until shortly before the election to provide its findings, despite earlier opportunities for federal and state officials to discuss voter registration concerns.
“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,” he wrote.
The secretary of state said Washington would review credible, individualized evidence of voter ineligibility but would not automatically reject ballots based on a list containing demonstrated errors.
The confrontation is part of a broader federal effort to examine voter eligibility in several states, including California, where the Justice Department has sought to segregate approximately 20,000 ballots associated with individuals suspected of lacking citizenship.
Courts have questioned whether federal authorities have provided sufficient evidence to justify emergency changes to election procedures shortly before voting concludes.
In Washington, the dispute remains unresolved as officials prepare to administer Tuesday’s election.
The federal government’s allegations have not established that all 405 identified individuals are noncitizens or that each participated unlawfully in an election. Washington’s preliminary findings indicate that at least some are American citizens, although officials have not publicly established a final count.
Hobbs’ acknowledgment nevertheless highlights a distinction between requiring voters to attest to citizenship and possessing an independent system capable of conclusively verifying every registrant’s status.
With the Nov. 3 elections approaching, federal prosecutors continue examining suspected registration violations while Washington officials maintain that ballot eligibility decisions must be based on verified evidence and established legal procedures.
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