Trump DOJ Voter List Includes US Citizens, Washington Says, as Judge Rejects Bid To Block California Ballots

Washington said Wednesday that the Trump DOJ voter list includes US citizens, challenging federal allegations ahead of the midterm elections. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said a preliminary review of 405 names also identified people without active voter registrations.

Federal prosecutors wanted ballots from suspected noncitizens withheld until their eligibility could be verified. That evening, a California judge rejected a separate Justice Department bid to set aside ballots involving approximately 20,000 registered voters.

Neither dispute establishes that everyone named was ineligible or had voted illegally.

The Washington dispute began after federal prosecutors Neil Floyd and Pete Serrano sent Hobbs a letter on Monday, 26 October. They alleged that hundreds of people had registered to vote despite lacking US citizenship, including lawful permanent residents.

The prosecutors demanded urgent checks and warned that they could seek emergency court intervention if Washington failed to comply.

Washington Challenges Trump DOJ Voter List Over Citizenship Errors

Hobbs rejected the reliability of the federal government's list after his office conducted a preliminary review. He said many individuals identified by prosecutors were US citizens, while others were not currently registered or had inactive registrations.

In his 28 October response to the Justice Department, Hobbs wrote that the list 'includes United States citizens and is not reliable'.

The secretary of state also questioned how prosecutors had compiled the records. He said the government supplied a PDF containing a printed spreadsheet without voter identification numbers or addresses needed to match entries reliably.

The document contained duplicate records, he added, while prosecutors provided no supporting information explaining how the data had been collected. These shortcomings complicated efforts to verify the allegations before election day.

'Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter's ballot,' Hobbs wrote.

The dispute arose after Washington had already mailed ballots to active registered voters. More than 1.3 million mail ballots had been returned by Wednesday, according to state election figures.

Federal prosecutors maintained that the list identified suspected noncitizens who had registered or voted unlawfully.

Hobbs disputed the quality of that evidence but did not claim his preliminary review had established the status of every individual named.

California Judge Rejects Trump DOJ Bid To Withhold Ballots

A separate legal confrontation unfolded in California, where the Justice Department sued state election officials over approximately 20,000 registered voters it suspected were noncitizens.

The department sought an emergency order requiring election workers to separate and withhold ballots associated with those individuals until their citizenship could be verified.

California officials challenged the accuracy of the federal list and questioned whether the government could intervene in an election already under way.

On Wednesday, US District Judge David Carter rejected the requested temporary restraining order, citing constitutional protections governing state elections and concerns about disenfranchising eligible voters.

'Constitutional rights and our democracy are at stake. The public interest favors their protection,' Carter said.

The ruling did not determine the citizenship status of all 20,000 individuals. Instead, it denied the immediate restrictions sought by federal prosecutors, leaving the underlying dispute unresolved.

The Justice Department appealed the decision.

On Thursday, Carter appointed special master Daniel B. Garrie to examine the disputed evidence and develop the factual record.

The judge is expected to consider a renewed request for an injunction following an evidentiary hearing scheduled for 13 November.

Trump DOJ Expands Election Scrutiny as Midterm Vote Approaches

The California dispute has also expanded into a separate federal investigation involving Los Angeles County election officials.

Federal grand jury subpoenas sent to employees of the county Registrar-Recorder's office sought documents concerning suspected noncitizen voting and election procedures. The recipients were instructed to appear on 4 November, one day after the midterm elections.

Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan criticised the federal government's approach, maintaining that election officials were complying with applicable laws. The subpoenas did not establish wrongdoing by the officials who received them.

The Justice Department has defended its efforts to identify potentially unlawful voting. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said Thursday that 156 immigrants had been charged nationwide with voting or registering unlawfully.

In Washington, Hobbs has maintained that election officials need individual evidence of ineligibility before withholding a registered voter's ballot. Federal prosecutors have continued to defend their concerns about suspected noncitizen registrations.

California's legal battle remains active despite Carter's rejection of the initial emergency request. The special master's review and the scheduled November hearing will address disputed evidence after election day, while the department's appeal remains pending.

With voters preparing to decide control of Congress on 3 November, election officials in both states continue administering their elections. The central disputes concern the reliability of federal citizenship data and the limits of federal intervention in ballot counting.