Prosecutors flagged 400-plus voters as noncitizens a week before the midterms. Their list isn't public or tested, and similar lists have swept in citizens.
On Nov. 2, Judge Tanya Chutkan, ruling in a League of Women Voters suit against DHS and DOJ, barred the government from further sending state or local election officials "lists of individual potential or actual non-citizen voters," with exceptions for SAVE citizenship checks and prosecutions22. The government told the court it is "in compliance with this Order"23. While the order stands, it bars DOJ from sending the second list it promised Washington, which Chutkan's opinion cites24. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle hasn't ruled on the immigrant-rights and labor groups' request for a temporary restraining order25. We found no sign DOJ has gone to court to force the hold it demanded. We changed one sentence written before Election Day. Our verdicts are unchanged.
In a sworn declaration filed Nov. 2 in a suit by immigrant-rights and labor groups against the administration, Washington's elections director said at least 62 of the 403 unique people on DOJ's list hadn't received ballots, numbers that "may actually be higher or lower"26. He gave no citizen count but said licensing records show "multiple people on this list presented proof of citizenship," and that DOJ "has not filed a lawsuit against Secretary Hobbs"26. As of Nov. 3 we found no sign DOJ sent its promised second list. Our verdicts are unchanged.
On Oct. 28, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs refused DOJ's request to hold flagged ballots. He wrote that a preliminary review found "many" people on the list are citizens, and that a "significant number" aren't registered or are inactive5. He gave no counts. As of Oct. 29 we found no DOJ court filing in news coverage. Our verdicts are unchanged.
Breaking: First Assistant US DOJ Attorneys for Washington state, Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano, announce that investigators have found over 400 cases of noncitizens voting in state and federal elections. The DOJ prosecutors claim that WA state is refusing to cooperate and hand over voter rolls. They believe the number of noncitizens voting is much higher — in the thousands.
Prosecutors did announce 400-plus noncitizen voters, but their list isn't public and no one has been charged. Similar lists have swept in many citizens, though checks elsewhere found some real cases. Washington refused DOJ its full voter file, and a court said DOJ had no right to it. "Thousands" has no count behind it.
What the post says or clearly implies, checked one by one. How verdicts work
Prosecutors did announce this, and their letter says DHS matched the voters "with a high level of confidence." But the list isn't public, their release says the people "appear" to be illegally registered, and no one has been charged.
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said his office had "identified over 400 non-citizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections." The release describes them as people who "appear to be illegally registered"1. Floyd says agents questioned detainees and border crossers, then checked databases against public voter data2. DOJ's letter counts over 400 people and over 1,500 votes3.
It says the people "are or were noncitizens (i.e., they may have subsequently naturalized)," so the list doesn't show who was a noncitizen when they voted. No one has been charged, though Floyd said "we will be filing charges"4. Hobbs says an early review found "many" are citizens, giving no number5. His office says one record dates to 19946.
Lists like this have swept in citizens before. Maricopa County prosecutors checked 60 flagged people who had voted: 52 were citizens and 8 were not7. In Alabama in 2024, about 2,000 of 3,251 flagged voters were citizens8. Until Washington publishes counts, or DOJ its list and method, neither claim can be tested.
Washington did refuse DOJ's demand for its full voter file, with driver's license and partial Social Security numbers. It offered the public list instead, and in September a federal judge ruled DOJ had no right to the rest.
In September 2025 DOJ asked for Washington's full voter file, including driver's license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers9. Hobbs offered the public list, with names, addresses and year of birth, and withheld the rest, citing state and federal law10,11. DOJ sued. On Sept. 22, 2026, Judge Kymberly Evanson dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that "the Government's demand for voter data violates federal law"12.
Washington has company. DOJ has sued 30 states and D.C. for their files, and courts have dismissed 27 of those suits, including the ones against Georgia, Utah and West Virginia. DOJ can still appeal. At least 16 states handed over full lists13. Floyd says the missing data forces his office to work "essentially one person at a time"2.
Hobbs says about 60 federal subpoenas for voter records have come in, and that his office is complying with them14. On Oct. 28 Hobbs refused to hold flagged ballots without "individualized proof of ineligibility" and invited DOJ to send it5.
Floyd said he was confident of thousands, based on a small sample he didn't size, with no account of how it scales up. No statewide check elsewhere has confirmed noncitizen voters on that scale.
Floyd told KOMO: "With the small sample we have collected so far, I am confident that we are looking at thousands of" noncitizens voting in Washington. He didn't say how big the sample was or how he got from it to thousands2. DOJ's release calls the 400 "only the tip of the iceberg," and its letter says a second list is coming1,3.
Statewide checks elsewhere found far fewer. Georgia's 2024 audit of 8.2 million registrants found 20 noncitizens, 9 of whom had voted, with 156 cases still under review15. Utah reviewed about 2.07 million records and confirmed 27 noncitizens, 13 of whom had voted. It listed 25 more as likely noncitizens and 5,007 it couldn't confirm either way16.
The strongest support comes from the Census Bureau. Its August 2026 "beginning analysis" linked about 1,000 Washington voter records from 2020 to noncitizens "with high confidence"17. It published no error rates, and outside experts have questioned the method18. Documented cases are a floor, so thousands isn't impossible.
Facts can't settle this part, so we don't rule on it.
When a federal list flags voters days before an election, should their ballots wait until citizenship is confirmed?
Both sides agree noncitizens can't legally vote in federal elections3,6. The fight is over timing and burden. DOJ demanded a 24-hour review and a hold on counting flagged ballots, or it would seek "emergency relief"3. Washington reviewed the list but refused the hold5. Federal law limits removing voters within 90 days of a federal election6. Under DOJ's request, any flagged ballot would wait until citizenship was determined3.
Holding a flagged ballot can be undone. Counting an illegal one can't.
Every illegal ballot cancels a lawful one, and once it's counted, as Floyd put it, "you can't un-ring that bell"2. Flagged ballots would wait for a citizenship check, and a cleared citizen still gets counted3. Washington mails a ballot to every active voter3, and Floyd says noncitizens tell agents, "I got a ballot in the mail, I thought I was eligible to vote"2.
Checks find real cases. In Maricopa County, all but one of the 8 noncitizen voters appeared to have been registered by mistake while renewing a driver's license7. A New Jersey software error registered about 6,600 people who told the DMV they were noncitizens. A preliminary count found fewer than 400 voted19. Washington withheld license and Social Security digits10, and Floyd says the full roll would ease checking2. A state that withholds the best data can't fairly fault the matches.
Lists like this mostly catch citizens, and a hold a week out can cost them their vote.
When officials check these lists name by name, many names fall away. In Alabama in 2024, about 2,000 of 3,251 voters flagged as possible noncitizens were citizens8. In a Los Angeles County sample of DOJ's California list, nearly 40% indicated a U.S. birthplace20. DHS says it confirmed 185 noncitizens on Nevada's rolls, and Nevada says its records show they are citizens21. Utah found driver's license and federal data unreliable for showing someone isn't a citizen, partly because naturalizations are slow to show up16.
DOJ's own letter concedes some people on the list may have naturalized3. Federal law already limits removals in the 90 days before a federal election6. A hold days before Nov. 3 risks leaving eligible voters uncounted, while voting as a noncitizen in a federal election is already a crime that can be prosecuted after the fact3,4.
Every source was opened and read. Advocacy groups are labeled as such.
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