Trump admin demands Washington set aside 400 ballots it says are from noncitizens

Read the original at ABC News (US) ↗
Cite

Barr, L., & Bruggeman, L. (2026, October 27). Trump admin demands Washington set aside 400 ballots it says are from noncitizens. ABC News (US). https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-admin-demands-washington-set-aside-400-ballots/story?id=137593785

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

ABC News (US) · collected 2026-10-27 · by Luke Barr, Lucien Bruggeman

Quick Summary

The Trump administration’s Justice Department has requested Washington state election officials to set aside more than 400 ballots it claims were cast by noncitizens, days before the midterms. This demand follows similar actions in California, where the DOJ filed a lawsuit against over 20,000 ballots potentially belonging to noncitizens. Washington’s Secretary of State Steve Hobbs expressed skepticism about the timing and intent behind this request, suggesting it aims to cast "unfounded suspicion" on election results.
Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Trump administration asked Washington state on October 26, 2026, to set aside ballots from 405 voters it suspects are noncitizens. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd claims these individuals cast over 1,500 votes in prior elections and represent "only the tip of the iceberg." The Justice Department sent a letter to Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs requesting that any ballots from suspected noncitizen voters be held until their eligibility is confirmed. This move follows similar actions taken against California and aims to intervene in state-run elections days before midterms, sparking skepticism and backlash from local officials concerned about voter harassment.

Written for “Trump Administration Requests Ballots Review” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence medium
Leaning: leans left for article 110004 (medium confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-29

Story

📰 Trump Administration Requests Ballots Review
Politics · 5 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 36% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 3 of 33 claims Outlet record 67/100
The Hindu
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 3 of 22 claims Outlet record 77/100
NBC News
Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses a lawsuit against California, while Article B mentions a request related to Washington state ballots. These are different events involving different states.”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 4 of 30 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles refer to different states: California in Article A and Washington state in Article B.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different states (California vs. Washington) and refer to distinct actions by the DOJ.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 8 of 38 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different states (California vs. Washington) facing similar demands from the Justice Department, indicating separate but related incidents.”
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 6 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A discusses a general effort by Democrats and watchdogs to monitor voting on Election Day, while Article B reports on a specific action by the Trump administration demanding certain ballots be set aside in Washington state.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 43 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different incidents involving federal intervention in elections, but in different states with distinct details and timelines.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
36%
5 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
70/100
ABC News (US)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (US) · 1226 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Luke Barr
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I'm frustrated that I got it in the middle of the night, but I'm much more concerned that it's filed on the public record." The assistant U.S. attorney in the hearing, John Borchert, struggled repeatedly as Faruqui asked him to explain the government's conduct, which the judge said was unlike any case he had ever seen in the history of D.C.'s district court. Faruqui ultimately granted the request from Flores' and Benavides' attorneys to strike the amended complaint from the docket and said he would continue Tuesday's hearing to determine whether prosecutors established probable cause in their initial complaint filed last week. "Why today on this one case have you changed the entire history of how you charge cases?" Faruqui asked of Borchert.
🔮 She could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
🔮 Unglesbee said he knew recipients of white powder letters 'took it serious and would have 'hazmat come in white suits' because 'anthrax is dangerous.'
🔮 The Justice Department is asking election officials in Washington state to set aside hundreds of ballots it says may belong to noncitizen voters, the latest move by the Trump administration to intervene in a state-run election just days before the midterms.
🔮 The report lays out a series of warning behaviors and signs that are typical for those who might carry out targeted workplace violence, like a 22-year-old service member who "experienced multiple stressors, including chronic pain resulting from a motorcycle accident, the ailing health of a loved one, harassment from peers, and numerous reprimands and citations at work due to poor performance and tardiness," before carrying out an attack that killed two on base and injured a third person.
🔮 In a follow-up post resharing the letter, Trump wrote "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!"
🔮 We will continue to monitor developments closely as the facts become clear.
🔮 After initially saying they would post the sensitive information, the group told reporters they recanted the threat.
🔮 Nepal used encrypted apps to exploit minors through "rules," which were needed for the child to join the so-called network, and leaders would force minors "to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder," according to the news release.
🔮 "Van Rootselaar wanted to select a location that would lead to the largest number of victims.
Also by Luke Barr
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Luke Barr →
Lucien Bruggeman
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 About 6 in 10 Americans are confident the midterm elections will be conducted fairly and accurately, while nearly 4 in 10 Americans and about 3 in 10 voters are not confident , according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel.
🔮 The Justice Department is asking election officials in Washington state to set aside hundreds of ballots it says may belong to noncitizen voters, the latest move by the Trump administration to intervene in a state-run election just days before the midterms.
🔮 In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels accused California of "willful blindness."
🔮 During a press conference on Monday, Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter attracted some scrutiny when he acknowledged that the administration's list likely included errors, and that "there may be some names on there who it turns out ultimately are citizens.
🔮 In a follow-up post resharing the letter, Trump wrote "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!"
🔮 President Donald Trump will once again meet with the top investors in his namesake meme coin in November -- the third such gathering since his return to office -- in what critics call yet another example of the president attempting to profit from his position.
Also by Lucien Bruggeman
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Lucien Bruggeman →

Topics

California U.S. Washington state the Justice Department’s

Subjects

Washington GPE · 6× Trump PERSON · 3× the Justice Department’s ORG · 3× California GPE · 2× Hobbs PERSON · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× state ORG · 2× ABC News ORG · 1× DOJ ORG · 1× The Justice Department ORG · 1×

Narrative

A federal appeals court declined to intervene in that matter and said that the "emergency" the DOJ claimed was in part "self-constructed." Local officials in Los Angeles said a sampling of the 20,000 ballots surveyed showed a "high percentage" of people who say they were born in the U.S. "We saw what happened in California and don't want Washingtonians to be harassed," Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement on Monday responding to the Justice Department's letter.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
🔮 The Justice Department is asking election officials in Washington state to set aside hundreds of ballots it says may belong to noncitizen voters, the latest move by the Trump administration to intervene in a state-run election just days before the midterms.

Claims (14 extracted, 5 hedged)

Trump admin demands Washington set aside 400 ballots it claims are from noncitizen voters Washington's secretary of state expressed skepticism about the request's timing. uncertain
secretary → demand → timing
The Justice Department is asking election officials in Washington state to set aside hundreds of ballots it says may belong to noncitizen voters, the latest move by the Trump administration to intervene in a state-run election just days before the midterms. uncertain
it → ask → midterms
The move sparked backlash from state officials who said the Justice Department’s intention in publicizing these allegations so close to an election was to create "unfounded suspicion." asserted
intention → spark → suspicion
Federal prosecutors in Washington state claimed in a statement Monday that the more than 400 individuals on the list represented “only the tip of the iceberg.” asserted
individuals → claim → iceberg
The statement accompanied a letter sent by the state’s two U.S. attorneys demanding that election officials set aside any ballots belonging to individuals on the list. asserted
officials → accompany → list
ABC News has not seen the letter. asserted
News → see → letter
The Justice Department’s messaging in Washington on Monday echoes steps it took ahead of a lawsuit it filed last week against California, where it has sued to prevent the state from counting more than 20,000 ballots it claims may belong to noncitizen voters. uncertain
it → echo → voters
The Trump administration has promoted a number isolated cases of alleged noncitizen voting in recent weeks as evidence of rampant election fraud. asserted
administration → promote → fraud
But all available evidence suggests voter fraud and noncitizen voting remains exceedingly rare, and certainly not widespread enough to alter the outcome of any election. uncertain
fraud → suggest → election
A federal appeals court declined to intervene in that matter and said that the "emergency" the DOJ claimed was in part "self-constructed." Local officials in Los Angeles said a sampling of the 20,000 ballots surveyed showed a "high percentage" of people who say they were born in the U.S. "We saw what happened in California and don't want Washingtonians to be harassed," Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement on Monday responding to the Justice Department's letter. asserted
Hobbs → decline → letter
Hobbs wrote in his response that at least one of the individuals on the Justice Department’s list dates back to 1994. asserted
one → write → 1994
Since then, 113.5 million primary and general election ballots have been cast in Washington, according to the secretary of state’s office. uncertain
ballots → cast → office
"The timing of this request -- one week before the General Election -- is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results," Hobbs added. asserted
Hobbs → intend → results
"We are carefully reviewing the request and assessing the information sought to ensure that our response complies with applicable state and federal laws." asserted
response → review → laws
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