OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is pushing back on the Department of Justice’s request to set aside over 400 ballots from voters the DOJ called “non-citizens.”
The U.S. Attorneys of Western and Eastern Washington sent a list of 405 people they say illegally registered to vote to the Secretary of State. They are asking the Secretary of State to withhold their ballots until their status is confirmed.
Hobbs says a preliminary review found citizens on the DOJ’s list, making it unreliable. He says the state cannot legally withhold those ballots without proof the voters are ineligible.
Hobbs also criticized the timing, saying the DOJ should have raised its concerns a month ago.
“Your decision to wait until the eve of an election and announce those concerns at a press conference instead of timely providing the list and any corroborating evidence to my office is not a sign of good faith to ensure a free, fair, and accurate election,” Hobbs wrote in a response letter to the DOJ.
In the letter, Hobbs also criticizes the DOJ for refusing to say how the information was collected or what sources were used to collect the data.
The DOJ says it found the number by comparing a lit of registered voters with the Department of Homeland Security.
“State and local election officials in Washington work tirelessly to administer free and fair elections,” Hobbs wrote. “Rather than distract these dedicated public servants from their important work at this late hour with a meritless lawsuit, I strongly encourage you to revisit the deeply flawed data you provided earlier this week, identify any actual proof, and work collaboratively with my office in the weeks or months to come.”
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