Federal prosecutors say 405 non-citizens cast over 1,500 ballots in Washington state

Right · 1On Monday 26 October, federal prosecutors said investigators had identified 405 people they believe are not U.S. citizens who voted in Washington state elections, casting more than 1,500 ballots over multiple elections. 1 Right · 2Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said officials had sent the names to state election officials and asked them to set aside the identified people's ballots until their eligibility can be checked. 1 2 Right · 1Floyd said some of the people voted only once or three times, while others voted as many as 27 times. He said the alleged votes go back decades, with the earliest he knew of in 1984, before Washington moved to vote-by-mail. 2

Right · 2According to Floyd, Department of Homeland Security investigators compared publicly available voter lists with federal records, while Fox News reports he said the review used U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records showing that people who applied for certain benefits had also voted. 1 2 Right · 2Floyd said the list is only a small sample and that he is confident the true number is in the thousands. Breitbart noted he gave no statewide count to support that estimate, and Fox said he described it as his own estimation. 1 2 Right · 1Floyd said Washington has refused to share its full voter registration database with identifying information, forcing investigators to work one person at a time. 1

Right · 1Fox News, citing the U.S. attorney's offices for the Eastern and Western districts, reported that many on the list are green card holders with legal immigration status. Officials said some were registered without their knowledge through Washington's Motor Voter program, which links voter registration to the Department of Licensing. 2 Right · 1Fox reported that Washington's secretary of state says residents are automatically registered only if they provide proof of citizenship when getting a driver's license or ID card. Floyd said he had not checked whether any of those identified voted in the coming midterms, to avoid interfering with the current election. 2 Right · 2Floyd said his office would pursue criminal cases against people who vote illegally and those who knowingly help them. Officials warned that possible charges include false statements in a naturalization application and fraudulent voter registration. 1 2

Right · 2The request comes ahead of the 3 November midterm elections, and both outlets link it to a Justice Department effort in California to set aside about 20,000 mail ballots from people it identified as likely non-citizens. Breitbart noted that California officials challenged the evidence behind that list. 1 2 Right · 1Separately, Fox News reported that the Department of Homeland Security said dozens of suspected non-citizens had been arrested nationwide in a voter-fraud crackdown, with at least 18 having voted in a federal election. 2