Washington Secretary of State Calls DOJ Voter Fraud List 'Garbage'

Olympia, Wash. (KZJO), Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called a federal list of alleged voter fraud a "dumpster fire disguised as a legal document" during a press conference held on Thursday.

The dispute centers on a joint letter from U.S. Attorneys Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano. The officials, representing the Western and Eastern Washington districts, alleged that 400 noncitizens were illegally registered to vote. They demanded that the Secretary of State's Office exclude those ballots from the final count for the 2026 midterm election.

Hobbs argued that the federal data contains major errors. State staff found that many individuals on the 403-name list are not registered or are on inactive status. Several entries were duplicates, and state birth certificates confirmed the U.S. citizenship of others. The Justice Department also misspelled "rolls" and listed the election date as Nov. 2 instead of Nov. 3.

"I’m not going to do anything with this list because it’s garbage," Hobbs told reporters. He noted that the U.S. Attorneys claimed many on the list are green card holders, who are not permitted to vote in U.S. elections.

Hobbs pointed to state records spanning 43 years to counter the federal narrative. From 1982 to 2025, Washington documented only 15 instances of noncitizens voting. That figure represents roughly 0.000006% of all ballots cast. Between 2006 and 2025, officials identified only five such cases.

"The federal government tries to [make] claims about voter fraud, but the numbers, they just don't pan out," Hobbs said. He added that if a noncitizen does vote, they commit a Class C felony.

King County Elections Director Julie Wise joined Hobbs at the event. She explained that accidental registrations through the state's motor voter system are rare. Most result from clerical errors or misunderstandings. Wise said that King County expects a 75% turnout, or roughly 1.1 million returned ballots. She encouraged voters to use the county's 100 secure drop boxes early.

Hobbs stated that the federal government should have collaborated with state officials months before the election. He cited a recent cyberattack on the state's online ballot drop box locator map as an example of where federal resources might be better spent. He also noted that roughly 20,000 ballots went uncounted in the primary due to U.S. Postal Service delays. Hobbs closed by saying that blanket purges based on unverified federal lists violate state and federal law.