Washington Secretary Hobbs Rejects Federal List of 403 Voter Registrations

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said Thursday he will not remove names from the state's voter rolls based on a federal list of 403 registrations that federal attorneys say includes noncitizens, calling the request improper one week before the Nov. 3 election.

Hobbs spoke at a press conference in Olympia, describing a joint letter from U.S. Attorneys Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano as a "dumpster fire disguised as a legal document rife with mistakes." Floyd represents the Western District of Washington and Serrano the Eastern District, both under the Trump administration.

State staff reviewing the federal list found that a number of the individuals named are not registered or carry inactive status, several entries are duplicates, and some have citizenship confirmed through state birth certificates, Hobbs said. He also noted the federal filing misspelled "rolls" and listed Election Day as Nov. 2 rather than Nov. 3.

Hobbs said Washington recorded 15 instances of noncitizens voting between 1982 and 2025, roughly 0.000006% of ballots cast over that span, with five such cases identified from 2006 through 2025. "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 votes, "they've committed a Class C felony."

The Secretary of State's Office was recently hit by a cyberattack aimed at its online ballot drop box locator map, Hobbs said, adding that federal officials typically work with the office at this point in the cycle. He also pointed to roughly 20,000 ballots left uncounted during the primary election because of U.S. Postal Service postmark delays.

King County Elections Director Julie Wise, who appeared with Hobbs, said accidental registrations through the state's motor voter system are rare and usually stem from misunderstandings or clerical error. Washington requires proof of citizenship for automatic registration through enhanced driver's licenses, while standard applications require explicit opt-ins and attestations under penalty of perjury, she said.

King County expects 75% turnout, about 1.1 million returned ballots, and operates 100 secure drop boxes, according to Wise. Hobbs said Washington has established legal routes for challenging eligibility through county auditors and prosecutors, and that blanket purges from unverified federal lists violate state and federal law. "There's a right way to do things," Hobbs said. "The right thing to do is maybe work with us months ahead, versus giving us a list one week before the election, which is against federal law."

Hobbs's office and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Western Washington provided the information in this article.