Trump administration asks Washington to set aside ballots from 400 voters it says may be noncitizens
SEATTLE (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it alleges registered to vote without U.S. citizenship, less than two weeks after making a similar demand in California.
The announcement is the latest sign of the administration’s attempts to sow doubts about the election or its outcome in states with races that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate and House.
In a letter to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, the Justice Department said it had identified 1,500 votes cast by the more than 400 people in prior elections. It asked the state to set aside any ballots they might cast in next month’s midterm until state officials can confirm they are legally eligible to vote. The state has more than 5 million registered voters, and the state issues mail ballots to all of them.
Related Knowledge Center: Voting rights
As Republicans move to restrict voting rights, and Donald Trump appears to be preparing for another confrontation about election results, a wide range of organizations are pushing back.
Top guidance in the run-up to Election Day
- Ben Wikler, a political organizer who was chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 2019 to 2025 says, “The very most powerful thing you can do as a volunteer in politics is to talk to your actual friends and family who are fence-sitters.”
- He quotes Abraham Lincoln, who wrote in a letter to a campaign committee in 1840: “Keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters, and from time to time have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence.”
- The place to put our energy, Wikler says, is on the people whose votes will matter most because they live in a place with high-stakes, very close elections, as well as the people where we live.
- ACLU: Know your voting rights | How the ACLU is safeguarding the election
- Report intimidation, at the polls or elsewhere, immediately to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).