Trump administration asks Washington to set aside hundreds of ballots from suspected noncitizen voters
Also reported by PBS NewsHour
Summary
The Trump administration asked Washington state to set aside ballots from 405 people it alleges may be registered to vote without U.S. citizenship, pending checks of their eligibility. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said he was reviewing the request, which came shortly before the midterm election; similar federal actions in California and Alaska are also facing legal challenges.Key Facts
- The Justice Department said it had identified about 1,500 votes cast by the 405 people in prior elections.
- The department asked Washington to withhold any ballots those people cast in the upcoming election until officials confirm their eligibility.
- Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said the department’s list relied in part on recent contacts between federal officers and suspected noncitizens.
- Hobbs said the request’s timing could cast unfounded suspicion on election results; his office noted that one person on the list last voted in 1994.
- Washington has more than 5 million registered voters and sends mail ballots to all of them.
- The Justice Department has filed a similar lawsuit in California seeking to set aside ballots from as many as 20,000 people, and a separate lawsuit in Alaska seeks to delay vote certification under certain conditions.
- A federal appeals panel hearing the California case questioned the timing, constitutionality and authority behind the request, then sent the matter back to a lower court.
- Washington officials have said changes in U.S. Postal Service operations have disenfranchised thousands of legitimate voters.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
