Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Trump administration is reportedly redoubling efforts to root out voter fraud in a number of states this week, including Washington.
Washington officials are troubled at the news as President Donald Trump and his Department of Homeland Security continue to look for widespread election fraud for which there is no evidence.
CNN on Monday, Aug. 31, reported the anticipated ramp-up in Department of Homeland Security voter fraud investigations, citing internal agency guidance.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson declined to comment on the Washington operation, saying the agency can’t comment on “any active investigations” but is “actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.”
It’s the latest electoral pressure point between the state and the federal government just weeks before ballots go out for the November midterm elections.
The Trump administration has also pushed for Washington’s voter rolls. And it has threatened to withhold federal funding for states that don’t adopt its desired changes meant to ensure that noncitizens are purged from the rolls.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called reports of the surge in voter fraud investigations “another attempt by the federal government to cause chaos and confusion ahead of the midterms.”
Hobbs, a Democrat, noted Washington had just five documented cases of voter fraud out of 90 million ballots cast between 2008 and 2025.
Attorney General Nick Brown, also a Democrat, said he has “no reason to believe this is a legitimate inquiry by DHS.”
“Washington state’s elections are secure thanks to the work of state and local leaders across the ideological spectrum,” he said in a statement. “No matter where the threat to our elections comes from, Washington will hold firm on the rule of law at this critical moment for democracy.”
Neither Hobbs nor Brown had additional information about the investigations beyond media reports.
The Department of Homeland Security has turned to an arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to lead the probes, looking for noncitizen voters.
Starting Tuesday, Sept. 1, the guidance CNN reported says, Homeland Security Investigations is embarking on a “coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative to pursue investigative leads, conduct field interviews, and support timely prosecutorial review.”
Washington is among nine states where these actions are expected. The others reportedly are California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“We have repeatedly demonstrated that illegal aliens can and do vote in our elections,” said the unnamed Homeland Security spokesperson in an email. “Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders.”
The agency cited four cases in 2024 and 2025 of arrests connected to noncitizen voter fraud.
Trump has pushed hard for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and to show photo identification before casting a ballot. Democrats oppose the proposal.
His administration has also used the Department of Homeland Security to search for noncitizen voters. Federal officials have claimed they found tens of thousands of wrongfully registered voters.
“Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: we will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences — including criminal charges and deportation,” the agency spokesperson said.
Hobbs countered that the department is “wasting taxpayer dollars investigating a phenomenon we know to be false.”
He added: “I know that my office and county election officials across Washington state remain focused on administering a secure and fair election for Washington voters this November.”
Courtesy of Washington State Standard
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TheVirtualOne
Hobbs, Brown, annd Ferguson are all great at playing together in Washington’s sanctuary state marching band. The truth is they are not revealing the gaping holes that exist in the voter registration system coupled with the lack of transparency to back up their claims of no fraud. The current voter registration system has zero verification of citizenship, the Department of Licensing issues drivers licenses and CDL’s to anyone regardless of their citizenship and inability to speak and read English, and when coupled with the automatic motor voter registration only increases the likelihood of illegal voting. Washington has roughly 1.3 million total foreign-born residents, meaning undocumented residents make up about one-quarter of the state's broader immigrant population. If our state politicians are truly committed to insuring our voting system is free from fraud, they should gladly provide the voter rolls for verification purposes. In addition, Hobbs should put his money where his mouth is and show the voting public the evidence that demonstrates the rolls have indeed been verified. Don’t just tell us, show us.
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
KarenM
The federal government does not have a role in overseeing elections. The states are given that responsibility in the Constitution.
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
Honestyandrealityguy
Do you ever wonder why Democrats do not like folks investigating to help insure fair elections. Sort of reminds me of Dino Rossi and the THOUSANDS of ballots dropped off after the end of the original counts. We need to have fair elections where felons and dead people don't vote, only registered voters vote, and they only vote once.
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
Snevets
Cite your sources @ VirtualOne. You sound just like the gas lighting administration occupying our WH.
Release the Epstein Files once and for all.
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
Scooter
I think it's paramount that readers should expect verified sources and be aware of hearsay.
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
Boatyarddog
Washington had just five documented cases of voter fraud out of 90 million ballots cast between 2008 and 2025.
TheVirtualOne. Really? YOU complain, if a political race comes down to 5 votes? That's BS
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
Boatyarddog
Honestyandrealityguy. Ahhahah , you like Trump think people believe or value what you Ramble. RAMBLE ON, remember A Felon IS Running the country.
We Know!
Wednesday, September 2 Report this
wildnature
Yes, a felon not only is running the Country, but has hijacked it. He needs to take his little pointy finger and turn it around at himself.
Thursday, September 3 Report this
ScottWall
The Federal Government has no role in the regulation or inspection of State voter roles or anything else related to elections. Trump has crowed about "rigged" elections without any supporting evidence for over a decade. That anyone would imagine that the guy who orchestrated January 6, 2021 insurrection of the Capitol in D.C. is the least bit interested in the sanctity of the elections demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of the law and the facts. How many lies from this Administration will the MAGAs believe?
Thursday, September 3 Report this
CobraCommander
TheVirtualOne - Do you ever read? Voter fraud is exceptionally rare, and federally directed changes to the USPS have resulted in rural votes being uncounted. Is that what you wanted? Remember, STATES perform elections, not the federal government. Get yourself a pocket Constitution.
https://www.kuow.org/elections/2026-09-02/record-number-of-wa-mail-in-ballots-uncounted-after-primary-election-report-finds
Here's one from the conservative Heritage Foundation:
https://electionfraud.heritage.org/
Thursday, September 3 Report this
CobraCommander
The difference between you and I is that I rely on empirical evidence for information, while you rely on Fox News and whatever your mind selectively chooses to spew forth at any given moment.
Thursday, September 3 Report this
HotTractor
The goal is to disenfranchise voters until they get the results they want. I bet TVO can't show anyone a documented case of voter fraud, but is eager to take legal voters rights away.
Thursday, September 3 Report this
36098501
KarenM’s comment is another sciolistic pronouncement, or an assertion delivered with considerable confidence despite a very superficial understanding of the subject, and a particularly interesting example of claiming what one wants the Constitution to say rather than what it actually says.
It is unfair to single out KarenM, however, because this is a recurring feature of those most vocal in our local political scene. We see it from elected officials, committees, staff and government consultants on subjects ranging from election law to some remarkably elementary aspects of business, economics and finance. The result is predictable with public policy adopted with insufficient understanding of the complex underlying issues followed by budget, management, oversight problems and unintended consequences.
On the specific constitutional question, the distinction is important.
Yes, states conduct and administer elections. But states do not have exclusive constitutional authority over federal elections.
Article I, Section 4 - the Elections Clause gives states authority to prescribe the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections while expressly authorizing Congress to “make or alter” those regulations.
And this isn't merely an academic interpretation. In Foster v. Love, 522 U.S. 67 (1997), the Supreme Court held that federal election statutes preempted a Louisiana election scheme that conflicted with federal requirements. The Court has subsequently continued to recognize that federal election law can preempt conflicting state election rules.
Likewise, in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S. 1 (2013), the Supreme Court explained that the Elections Clause gives Congress authority to preempt state rules governing federal elections, while states retain substantial authority over the mechanics of elections unless Congress displaces that authority.
There are two propositions here, and both can be true.
Washington has primary responsibility for administering its elections, and Congress has constitutional authority to regulate federal congressional elections.
There is no contradiction between those statements.
People can reasonably disagree about election policy. We can disagree about voter ID, voter registration, vote-by-mail, ballot deadlines, voter-roll maintenance or the appropriate degree of federal involvement. Those are legitimate policy debates.
But if you're going to invoke the Constitution to make an argument, you don't get to ignore the part of the Constitution that contradicts your argument—or the Supreme Court decisions interpreting it.
And this is where the broader competency issue matters. When elected officials or other people in positions of authority repeatedly make confident claims that aren't supported by the underlying law or facts, eventually it stops being merely a disagreement over policy. It becomes a credibility and governance problem.
Reading the Constitution and the relevant Supreme Court cases before lecturing everyone else would be a good first step.
Interestingly, I think I agree with KarenM on the general principle that government should be kept as close to citizens as the Constitution permits with a smaller Federal government impact on our lives. I also agree that Washington should retain control over how it conducts its state and local elections. Washington's vote-by-mail system is established and should not be discarded simply because people outside the State criticize it.
But defending the system doesn't require pretending it is incapable of improvement.
If we genuinely want election integrity, accuracy, accessibility and timely results, Washington can strengthen its existing system without abandoning vote-by-mail. We sould consider additional identity verification, stronger voter-registration requirements and stronger ongoing voter-roll maintenance, requiring voters to affirmatively request a ballot rather than automatically mailing one to every registered voter in the database, and an earlier deadline for receiving mailed ballots so that a much larger share of votes can be processed by Election Day.
None of those changes requires abandoning vote-by-mail, yet negate the criticisms that jeopardize it.
In fact, proactively addressing legitimate criticisms would make Washington's system easier to defend. Faster and more transparent results would also eliminate some of the ammunition used by critics who portray the ordinary counting of late-arriving ballots as evidence that the entire system is broken.
The goal should be to improve Washington's election system because Washington wants a better election system and not because the federal government demands it.
Keep Washington's elections in Washington's hands.
But don't confuse defending the system with refusing to improve it, and don't confuse confidence with competence. People that speak the loudest and the most frequently, tend also to know the least.
Look around Olympia and what do you often see in the political process?
Friday, September 4 Report this
CobraCommander
36098501 - You're using ChatGPT hahahah
Release the Epstein files
Friday, September 4 Report this
36098501
CobraCommander - That is a good idea, but no. These topics are too simple. The comment referenced was one I hear often in town as this election topic has been coming up more and more with an election quickly approaching. It won't be long after that until we are discussion about the merits of the electoral college again.
Plus, my writing would be better and I wouldn't have misspelled some words. I don't even use spellcheck.
These issues are very important to me, thus the long winded responses on topics that have nuance and deserve more than a two sentence comment.
In your case, you have made it very clear in your responses that you are not using anything to help you with your answers either.
Friday, September 4 Report this
CobraCommander
36098501 yep youre a bot
Friday, September 4 Report this
TheVirtualOne
The integrity of the voting system and process needs to be respected regardless of the party. This is something everyone who votes wants and should require proper execution of by the elected representatives. Unfortunately, government isn’t known for being good at building and executing things properly. That there are few reports of fraud doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, and in the case of Washington state, it means that there is no mechanism to investigate and validate that voter rolls are indeed being held to a gold standard. There should be total transparency and systematic oversight and accountability to ensure that every single person who is eligible to vote is indeed properly vetted and verified. That is not the case today. Gaping holes exist, just as we are now seeing in things like the driver licensing system. To those who wish to see references, footnotes, and links, do your own validation, research, and homework. Go to the online voter registration website and go through the screens to see that no citizenship verification is necessary. Read the news about the thousands of CDL recipients who are being revoked due to invalid applications and registrations, including those who cannot speak English or read road signs, see the people who are being hurt, maimed, and killed by the truck drivers who never should have been allowed to drive a truck. This is your government failing miserably at the job they were elected to carry out. Remember the VA Hospital fiasco where they were keeping two sets of books? One was to report the wonderful people and work they were supposedly doing, getting them big bonuses, and then there was the real story that was completely ignoring the veterans who deserved to be taken care of. This is a comments section, not a research paper.
Friday, September 4 Report this