The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally requested that Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs take action regarding hundreds of individuals identified as noncitizens who are registered to vote. According to federal officials, an investigation revealed that more than 400 people who are not U.S. citizens have illegally registered to vote in the state. The DOJ asserts that these individuals have cast roughly 1,500 ballots in previous elections.

In a letter sent to Secretary Hobbs, the DOJ emphasized the importance of election integrity and requested that state officials segregate these specific ballots to ensure that only eligible voters are counted in the upcoming election cycle. The request highlights an ongoing tension between federal oversight of election rolls and state-level administration of voter registration databases.

While the DOJ maintains that these registrations are illegal and pose a risk to the accuracy of the voter rolls, the report does not detail the specific response from Washington state officials or the verification processes currently in place to cross-reference citizenship status with voter registration records. The situation remains a point of focus for federal authorities looking to enforce citizenship requirements for federal elections.