DOJ gives Washington 24 hours to hold 400 ballots

The Justice Department has given Washington state 24 hours to set aside ballots cast by more than 400 voters it believes are not U.S. citizens. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd sent the request to the state secretary of state on Monday. The demand arrives one week before the general election. This action mirrors a similar push currently facing California.

Floyd stated in a news release that his office identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. He described the number as the tip of the iceberg. The Justice Department will continue to investigate and identify individuals committing crimes by voting illegally. The list includes registrants whose records suggest they lack citizenship status.

The request forces Washington to review citizenship records for each name on the list. The state has more than 5 million voters on its rolls. Washington refused to share its unredacted voter rolls with the Justice Department earlier this year. Floyd said this refusal made his team's work more time-consuming. His office compared lists of permanent legal residents, such as green card holders, against voter registration records to find the discrepancies.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs criticized the timing of the request. His spokesperson, Helen Smith, confirmed the office is reviewing the list. Hobbs stated that the state takes its responsibility to protect voter information seriously. He said the department will only respond to requests that follow due process. Hobbs pointed to the legal battle in California as an example of why the state is cautious.

Hobbs said the timing, one week before the general election, is intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. He expressed a desire to avoid harassing Washingtonians. The state officials are weighing the legal requirements of the federal request against the need to protect voter data. The 24-hour deadline requires a rapid review of potentially thousands of records.

Noncitizens occasionally appear on voter rolls. However, relatively few of them actually vote. Voting while a noncitizen is a crime with a paper trail. It can incur serious penalties, including deportation. Newly naturalized citizens are frequently flagged as noncitizens in voting records. This happens because there is no comprehensive list of U.S. citizens to cross-reference against registration data.

The Justice Department faced a legal setback in California on the same day it sent the letter to Washington. An appeals court ruled against the Trump administration. The court said the Justice Department had not given the lower court a chance to review the administration's claims. Los Angeles County election officials filed a legal document stating the federal list appeared to come from old voting lists. They noted it included many apparent U.S. citizens with places of birth in the U.S.

The administration previously believed 20,000 noncitizens were on California's voter rolls. It gave California 48 hours to review that list. The Justice Department sued to stop the state from counting those ballots. The new order in Washington follows a pattern of federal involvement in state election processes. The administration has also sued Alaska over a Senate race.

Election experts told NBC News last week that the administration's lawsuits are on shaky ground. They noted that nothing in federal law gives the Justice Department authority to intervene in election certification or ballot counting. The Trump administration sued Alaska at President Donald Trump's suggestion. That suit asks a court to block certification of a race unless the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, wins re-election.