Thursday, October 1, 2026
Federal authorities on Tuesday, July 7, threatened Washington state election officials with criminal prosecution if they fail to prevent noncitizens from voting in this year’s federal elections.
In a seven-page letter, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon warned the election officers that they could be held criminally liable if they knowingly retain noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls or facilitate noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots.
Dhillon sent similar letters to several states. She’s giving Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and election officials elsewhere five days to respond with how each is complying with a slew of long-standing federal laws that prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections.
Hobbs said his office is reviewing Dhillon’s request to determine its legality, but added that the Department of Justice is “accelerating down a slippery slope of threatening personal legal action against election administrators.”
“Attempts to revive disproven claims of rigged elections will not deter election professionals from doing their job of overseeing accessible, accurate, auditable elections,” said the Democratic secretary of state in a statement late Tuesday.
The letter sets up the latest standoff between the Trump administration and Washington election officials. Trump has long railed against noncitizen voting without evidence, and sought state voter rolls to stave off electoral fraud, which is almost nonexistent. This despite election oversight being the purview of states and Congress.
Hobbs has repeatedly refused to provide the Trump administration with protected information included in voter data, like dates of birth, driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers.
Washington is the subject of an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit for access to the state’s voter list, including sensitive personal information. Similar suits in other states have been tossed. A hearing on Washington’s request to dismiss the case here is set for August.
And this March, the president signed an executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service not to provide mail-in or absentee ballots to states that don’t hand over lists of mail-in voters, an existential threat to Washington’s voting system. The order also threatened election officials with prosecution for providing ballots to ineligible voters. A federal judge last month blocked the executive action.
Postal Service officials were set to meet with Washington state lawmakers last month to discuss the order, but skipped the public hearing.
Dhillon heads up the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. In that role, she has frequently taken on Democrat-led states over various issues, including incarcerating transgender prisoners in women’s prisons, gun restrictions and antisemitism on college campuses.
In the latest letter to Hobbs, she justifies the threat of criminal prosecution by citing the National Voter Registration Act, which says an election official who “knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process” can be held liable.
Courtesy of Washington State Standard
18 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Wesley
So thankful Trump is in charge of the D.O.J.
Wednesday, July 8 Report this
Honestyandrealityguy
Imagine, making Democrats follow the intent of our founders. Common sense please.
Wednesday, July 8 Report this
ClimateTeam
It's the dumpster who should be in prison. He wouldn't know a fair election if it smacked him in the face.
Wednesday, July 8 Report this
Shushu
Putin Jr acts again. Sad thing is we are desensitized at actions that threaten our democracy.
Thursday, July 9 Report this
Snevets
This is why I live here. Thank you Governor Ferguson & team for your readiness to address the regime in our White House.
We are a Democracy.
Thursday, July 9 Report this
Boatyarddog
Wesley, Honestyandrealityguy Are you Two STUPID People?
Neither one knows What the Hell is going on Trump IS NOT in charge of the DOJ, AND I DOUBT Trumps DOJ pick will be Accepted by Congress. The Ones Not Following The CONSTITUTION are The Handmaiden Crew, Miller, Johnston, ect you KNOW who The RRAL D *** heads are. And so does Everyone Else.
Thursday, July 9 Report this
KatAshe
Totally pathetic of the feds.
By Speaker Johnson’s own study of over 35,000,000 voters, only something like THIRTY votes were cast by POTENTIAL non citizens. That’s a fraud rate of .00001%. Statistically, not even measurable.
What it appears Trump wants is something similiar to the Doomsday Book, or the census taken at the time of the birth if Christ. Trump wants to know who all his subjects’ are, where they are and what property they own that he could possibly confiscate. By lawsuits to impoverish them?
Thursday, July 9 Report this
Schnauzer
What do the DEMACRAPS have to hide? The United States
Thursday, July 9 Report this
CobraCommander
Voter fraud is insanely rare but is being blamed a a preteclxt to attack minority voters. But hey who cares about data? MAGA trash certainly never did:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-widespread-is-election-fraud-in-the-united-states-not-very/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-orders-e-jean-carroll-be-paid-5-8m-in-trump-***-abuse-and-defamation-case
Thursday, July 9 Report this
CobraCommander
Boatyarddog- Exactly.
Wesley doesn't understand checks and balances and the separation of powers.
Honestyandrealityguy doesnt understand that the founders didnt want power ito be consolidated into one person or branch of government.
This is literally middle shool civics you two are failing jfc
Thursday, July 9 Report this
CobraCommander
If you want to see some voter fraud look up Republican candidate Michael Walsh
Thursday, July 9 Report this
CobraCommander
Ask yourself why this is happening:
https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/07/09/trump-fires-election-assistance-commission-members-hicks-hovland-mccormick/
Friday, July 10 Report this
HarveysMom
Seems to be simple harassment, parading as a threat. It is as if DJT's DOJ believes there are not already laws about voter eligibility all across the country. Amazing level of ignorance on their part. DJT's supporters must be total novices who only started to look at governments in the last few years. Ignorance! They seem to think Trump's loss at the election of 2020 is the first and only election that was ever disputed. I bet elections have been disputed for about 250 years so far, right? Public interests in fair elections has been in place for abourt 250 years, right? Trump's DOJ continues to act as if the law is unknown territory to them, with the DOJ having a role to serve DJT and not the country.
Friday, July 10 Report this
HarveysMom
And I love the sarcasm and satire of the remarks by Wesley and Honesty and Reality Guy.
Friday, July 10 Report this
Southsoundguy
Good!
Friday, July 10 Report this
CobraCommander
Southsoundguy is too inept to understand when he's being trolled lol typical trump voter
Friday, July 10 Report this
Southsoundguy
Your liberal dreams are dissolving before your eyes.
Friday, July 10 Report this
CobraCommander
Thats a cute comment but unsuprising because Southsoundguy prefers pedophiles, billionaires, and dictators as leaders. Says more about you than it does about any of us. Somebody check his browsing history!
Saturday, July 11 Report this