For some green card holders in Washington state, the path to an illegal vote began with an envelope in the mailbox, federal prosecutors say.
Investigators have since counted more than 400 registered non-citizens who voted in multiple elections. Together, prosecutors said Monday, they cast roughly 1,500 ballots.
Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney in the Western District of Washington, and Pete Serrano, first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District, jointly disclosed the numbers.
The Eastern District office posted the announcement Monday, Oct. 26, under the title “Federal data shows hundreds of non-citizens registered to vote in Washington.”
Many people on the list hold lawful permanent resident status.
Those residents have legal immigration status but are not citizens, the release noted. Only U.S. citizens may vote in federal elections.
Floyd laid out the findings in a news release. “We have identified over 400 non-citizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Then came the pledge: “We will continue to investigate and identify those who are committing crimes by voting illegally.”
Some green card holders told investigators they signed up through the state’s Motor Voter program, received ballots by mail, and assumed they could vote.
“People are telling us, ‘I got a ballot in the mail, I thought I was eligible to vote,’” Floyd said.
Floyd also referenced the state’s long-standing message about its elections.
“For years Washington State has had a mantra: our elections are ‘free, fair, and devoid of fraud.’ But our investigation shows not all of that is true – people who are non-citizens are registered to vote and are voting in our state,” he said.
The offices described the individuals as people who “appear to be illegally registered to vote.”
Both asked Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to sequester any vote-by-mail ballots from the individuals until their citizenship can be confirmed.
The release identified the Secretary of State as Washington’s Chief Election Officer.
The release assigned the next move to state officials. “It is up to the state to take action to make sure that they are not allowing these non-citizens to vote illegally,” the release stated.
The release also told any non-citizen registered to vote to report that to the Secretary of State’s Office so officials can cancel the registration.
The offices plan to give the state a list of the individuals, and they say they welcome the opportunity to work with Washington on election integrity.
Serrano, for his part, cited the reason for sharing the data. “Our purpose in sharing this data with the Secretary of State is to protect the sanctity of each citizen’s vote,” he said.
Serrano added a second statement. “Our goal in sharing this information with the State of Washington is to ensure that a Washington citizens’ votes are protected in this and future elections.”
The release spelled out the legal exposure. Defendants who knowingly and willfully claim U.S. citizenship under oath on a voter registration application can face criminal charges.
The release listed false statements in a naturalization application and fraudulent voter registration among them, both felonies with a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
Naturalization applicants must swear they never claimed U.S. citizenship, registered to vote or voted in U.S. elections, the release explained.
Floyd said state limits on access to voter rolls force investigators to work case by case.
He said the actual total likely reaches into the thousands.
The Justice Department’s scrutiny predates Monday. In July, the head of its Civil Rights Division wrote to Washington’s Secretary of State and warned that the department was examining records to see whether non-citizens were registered to vote.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin weighed in, saying every non-citizen vote “steals the vote of a hard-working American citizen.”
A Department of Homeland Security announcement listed names and charges.
Reporter Katie Daviscourt summarized the news in a post and noted that prosecutors believe non-citizen voting runs far more widespread.
The Washington investigation remains ongoing. Prosecutors indicated they may provide more names before Election Day.
The Trump administration has pursued similar cases in multiple states.
