Secretary of State Steve Hobbs announced late Monday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested information about individuals on Washington’s voter rolls. Hobbs’ office is reviewing the request.
“We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process,” Hobbs said in the announcement. “We saw what happened in California and don’t want Washingtonians to be harassed.”
The federal government filed a lawsuit against California, claiming that officials needed to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots federal officials claim were sent to noncitizens ahead of midterm elections. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments about the case in a two-hour session on Sunday. CBS News reported that the three judges appeared “skeptical” of the DOJ’s lawsuit, and that they would attempt to rule as quickly as possible.
The lawsuit against California is not the only attack the federal government under President Donald Trump is making on states. Trump himself promised to prevent Alaska’s Senate election results from being certified if the Democratic challenger wins against the Republican incumbent.
The Constitution enshrines states’ authority to administer elections, which courts around the country have repeatedly upheld in the face of Trump’s many attacks over the last year, including attempts to obtain confidential information on voter rolls. Just last month, the court ruled against the DOJ, after it tried to get Washington’s voter rolls.
Voting rights are protected under federal law, which limits states’ and counties’ ability to remove voters from rolls within 90 days of a federal election.
“The timing of this request—one week before the general election—is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results,” Hobbs said. “At the same time, thousands of voters were recently disenfranchised in our August primary due to delayed postmarks.”
Hobbs’ office assured that the state’s elections are secure, and that cases of voter fraud, including noncitizen voting, are “incredibly rare.” Every voter signs a declaration attesting their eligibility on their ballot return envelope. When the state suspects election fraud, the case is investigated and referred to the county sheriff and prosecutor, if needed.
But, his office said, “the system the DOJ uses frequently flags legitimate U.S. citizens as noncitizens, jeopardizing their legal right to vote. It also exposes voters’ private data to a 10-year retention period, which is a serious privacy risk.”
Furthermore, the office said, delays in postmarking have already increased ballot rejection by 300-500% in some state counties. In the general election in 2024, only about 4,000 of 4 million ballots were rejected. Comparatively, of the nearly 2 million ballots returned in the much smaller primaries in August, a little more than 20,000 were rejected, due to a late postmark. This represents a significant increase, and points to mass disenfranchisement.
“At a time when thousands of Washington voters already face ballot rejections due to delayed postmarks, our focus should be on ensuring every eligible voter can exercise their right to vote, not creating additional uncertainty about their eligibility,” said Hobbs. “Our priority remains protecting Washington citizens’ right to vote and their private information. We will not release information that is protected under state and federal law.”
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