On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that they have uncovered over 400 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Washington state. Some of these individuals have participated in elections over the years, even spanning back decades.
The majority of those identified are green card holders, which means they have legal immigration status, according to information from U.S. attorneys in both the Eastern and Western districts of Washington.
“We’ve come across more than 400 noncitizens who are registered and have voted in various elections. This is likely just the beginning,” stated Neil Floyd, the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington.
He added, “We will keep investigating and find those engaged in illegal voting.”
The current findings follow the DOJ’s earlier actions against Los Angeles County, where they aimed to invalidate around 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to individuals with questionable citizenship statuses.
Immigration officials informed Fox News Digital that dozens of noncitizens across the country have been arrested as part of a significant crackdown on voter fraud.
In a discussion with Fox News Digital, Floyd explained that the investigation involved a review of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records. This review indicated that some individuals who had applied for certain immigration benefits had also voted.
Interestingly, while some of these noncitizens voted just a handful of times, others had cast their votes as many as 27 times. Overall, Floyd’s office noted approximately 1,500 instances where noncitizens participated in elections.
It’s crucial to mention that some of these noncitizens have been voting for many years, even before Washington adopted its vote-by-mail system.
“I think the earliest case we found dates back to 1984,” Floyd remarked, recalling instances from the late ’80s to early ’90s.
Nevertheless, he clarified that he hadn’t checked if any of the individuals had voted in the upcoming midterms, as he aimed to avoid interfering with the current election process.
Floyd suggested that the number of potential noncitizen voters might only reflect a small fraction of the larger population, pointing out that the list only includes individuals who sought certain benefits in Washington.
“If you take this group and expand it to all individuals here illegally that we haven’t interacted with, my estimation suggests that the real number could be in the thousands,” he said.
Federal officials explained that many green card holders ended up registered to vote unknowingly via Washington’s Motor Voter program, which connects voter registration to the state’s Department of Licensing.
According to the officials, “We’ve received accounts from green card holders who learned they were registered without their consent through the Washington Motor Voter program. When they receive a ballot in the mail, they believe they are registered legitimately, but that’s not the case at all.”
As stated on the Washington secretary of state’s website, residents are only automatically registered to vote if they provide proof of U.S. citizenship while registering for a driver’s license or ID card.
These findings have prompted federal officials to explore the patterns of failures in the voter registration procedure, as noted by Floyd.
The DOJ has requested that Washington state invalidate ballots cast by the identified individuals until their citizenship can be confirmed.
“Washington has been alerted that noncitizens are voting. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure that these noncitizens do not vote illegally,” the notice highlighted.
Officials warned that voting as a noncitizen can lead to severe repercussions for those aiming to become U.S. citizens. Potential legal troubles may include making false statements in naturalization applications, with some individuals possibly facing charges for fraudulent voter registration.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed Fox News Digital that numerous illegal aliens have confessed to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots in U.S. elections.
Out of the many suspects apprehended, at least 18 had voted in a federal election.
The individuals came from various countries, including Mexico, Somalia, Honduras, Guyana, Cuba, Germany, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cambodia, Guatemala, Portugal, and Italy.
Many of them also faced accusations of multiple alleged crimes ranging from counterfeiting and fraud to assault, DUI, and drug possession.
