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Trump administration asks Washington to set aside ballots from 400 voters it says may be noncitizens

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AP. (2026, October 27). Trump administration asks Washington to set aside ballots from 400 voters it says may be noncitizens. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/trump-administration-asks-washington-to-set-aside-ballots-from-400-voters-it-says-may-be-noncitizens/article71629596.ece

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The Hindu · collected 2026-10-27 · by AP

Quick Summary

On October 26, 2026, the Trump administration requested Washington state to set aside ballots from over 400 voters suspected of not being U.S. citizens. In a letter to the Secretary of State's Office, the Justice Department identified approximately 1,500 votes cast by these individuals in previous elections and asked for confirmation before allowing them to vote in upcoming midterms. Washington has received around 60 subpoenas from the DOJ since last month seeking voter information, with Secretary of State Steve Hobbs emphasizing due process protections for voters' rights data. This action mirrors similar efforts in California and follows President Trump's pattern of attempting to erode public trust in elections.
Written by AI on 2026-10-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 26, 2026, the Trump administration asked Washington state to set aside ballots from over 400 voters it suspects of being noncitizens, just days before midterm elections. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd in Seattle sent a letter to the Washington Secretary of State's Office requesting the review and sequestration of these ballots until citizenship can be confirmed. The Justice Department claims its investigation identified individuals by cross-referencing voter records with USCIS data but has faced skepticism over both timing and methodology. In response, Steve Hobbs, Washington’s secretary of state, stated on October 29 that the list contains many U.S. citizens and is not reliable, challenging the DOJ's request as potentially undermining election integrity.

Written for “Trump Administration Targets Noncitizen Voters in Washington” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump Administration Targets Noncitizen Voters in Washington
Politics · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (US)
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 5 of 14 claims Outlet record 70/100
NBC News
Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 3 of 33 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different states (Washington vs California) involved in separate DOJ actions to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens.”
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events involving separate requests by the Trump administration to two different states regarding ballots from alleged non-citizen voters.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe actions taken by the Trump administration regarding suspected noncitizen voters in different states (Washington vs. California) on separate occasions.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles describe different actions taken by the Trump administration and DOJ in different states and time periods.”
CBS News
Hedges 6 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
77/100
The Hindu's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Hindu · 769 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

Who wrote this

AP
97 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by AP
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 97 articles by AP →

Topics

California U.S. Washington the Justice Department the Washington Secretary of State's Office

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 5× Washington GPE · 4× California GPE · 3× the Justice Department ORG · 3× U.S. GPE · 2× Hobbs PERSON · 1× Neil Floyd PERSON · 1× State ORG · 1× Steve Hobbs PERSON · 1× the Washington Secretary of State's Office ORG · 1×

Narrative

The Trump administration on Monday (October 26, 2026) asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it suspects registered to vote without U.S. citizenship.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-27
🔮 It asked the state to set aside any ballots the people might cast in next month's midterm until state officials can confirm they are legally eligible to vote.

Claims (22 extracted, 3 hedged)

The Trump administration on Monday (October 26, 2026) asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it suspects registered to vote without U.S. citizenship. asserted
it → ask → citizenship
In a letter to the Washington Secretary of State's Office, the Justice Department said it had identified 1,500 votes cast by over 400 people in prior elections. asserted
it → say → elections
It asked the state to set aside any ballots the people might cast in next month's midterm until state officials can confirm they are legally eligible to vote. uncertain
they → ask → midterm
The state has more than 5 million registered voters. asserted
state → have → voters
“We are asking the state to set aside those ballots until we can confirm they are legal voters,” Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said in a news conference. asserted
Floyd → ask → conference
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was reviewing the administration's demand. asserted
Hobbs → review → demand
His office noted that it had received about 60 subpoenas from the Justice Department since last month seeking information about voters. asserted
it → note → voters
“We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process,” Hobbs said in an emailed statement. asserted
Hobbs → take → statement
“We see what's happening in California and don't want Washingtonians to be harassed.” asserted
Washingtonians → see → California
The effort is the latest by the administration to identify noncitizen voters, even though noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare. asserted
voting → identify → voters
President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine public confidence in elections. asserted
Trump → seek → elections
The request in Washington is similar to Justice Department attempt to require California to sequester mail ballots from up to 20,000 people the federal government suspects may not be citizens. uncertain
government → require → people
California has challenged that, and during rare Sunday arguments, a panel of federal appellate judges questioned the timing, constitutionality and authority of the Justice Department's demand. asserted
panel → challenge → demand
The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the power to set the time, place and manner of congressional elections. asserted
Clause → give → elections
Los Angeles County Assistant Registrar-Recorder Monica Flores said in a court filing that her staff went through a sample of 200 records from the Trump administration's list. asserted
staff → say → list
They found the sample included canceled or inactive registrations, people with no voting history and voters who appeared to have been born in the United States. asserted
who → find → States
The Justice Department told Washington it anticipates sending the state an additional list of people it suspects are not citizens prior to Election Day. asserted
it → tell → Day
It also noted that some of the people it suspects registered without citizenship may have since become naturalized. uncertain
it → note → citizenship
Investigations into prior allegations of noncitizen voters have revealed far fewer instances than the Trump administration has claimed. asserted
administration → reveal → instances
In Nevada, Trump's administration alleged there were 1,500 potential noncitizen voters on the rolls, but subsequent investigation found zero. asserted
investigation → allege → zero
In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, the county Recorder, who is a Trump supporter, announced that there were 207 possible noncitizens on the county's rolls. asserted
who → include → rolls
The Republican County Attorney determined there were actually eight. asserted
Attorney → determine → ?
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