Judge Bars DOJ From Demanding Washington Set Aside Ballots on a List of 400 Suspected Noncitizens; Order Says At Least 62 on the List Never Got Ballots

A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday temporarily barred the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from demanding that Washington election officials set aside ballots cast by people on a federal list of about 400 suspected noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead granted, in part, a temporary restraining order sought by OneAmerica Votes, the Latino Community Fund of Washington State and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The Digital Free Press reviewed the 25-page order, which takes effect immediately and lasts 14 days.

The Oct. 26 Letter and the List

According to the order, on Oct. 26, eight days before Election Day, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington Pete Serrano and First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Neil Floyd sent Secretary of State Steve Hobbs a list of roughly 400 registered voters. The letter asked him to instruct county officials not to verify signatures on, or count, those voters' ballots "until citizenship can be determined," and set a noon deadline on Oct. 28.

The order says the letter cited a single statute, 18 U.S.C. 611, which makes it a crime for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election, and acknowledged that people on the list could have since become citizens. The judge wrote that Washington's review found at least 62 people on the list had not been sent a ballot because their registrations were canceled, inactive or could not be found, and that several had shown the state proof of U.S. citizenship.

The order also quotes Floyd at a press conference saying that "anyone that assists someone in voting illegally would be also guilty of that crime under the aiding abetting theory." After Hobbs refused, the order says, Serrano said on the radio that "if ultimately we have to send 39 letters to 39 auditors over the next couple days we can do that."

What the Washington Ballots Order Does

The government argued it had compelled nothing, telling the court the letter was a request that Washington was free to decline, and that "no further action has been taken." It pointed to a Nov. 2 Ninth Circuit panel order, later reinstated by the full court, that paused a nationwide order restraining similar demands.

Whitehead rejected that framing. "On this record, Defendants did not ask," he wrote. "They directed Washington to set aside specific voters' ballots, set a deadline, told election officials they would be prosecuted if they counted those ballots as state law requires." He relied on an Oct. 30 Ninth Circuit ruling that the same statute does not let the Justice Department take charge of a state's ongoing election.

The order bars the defendants, including Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, from directing Washington officials to remove specific voters from the rolls, refuse them ballots or set aside their ballots in the Nov. 3 election, and from threatening officials with prosecution for not complying.

The judge called the order "narrow." It does not stop the government from investigating or prosecuting anyone who votes unlawfully, sharing information with election officials, stating its view of federal law or asking for the state's cooperation, and it covers only Washington.

What Comes Next

The government must file any opposition to a preliminary injunction by Nov. 12, and the court will hear the motion on Nov. 18. Washington counties must certify results by Nov. 24, according to the order. The online docket showed no appeal as of Friday morning.

Sources: OneAmerica Votes v. Trump, No. 2:26-cv-04223-JNW (W.D. Wash.), order granting temporary restraining order in part, Nov. 5, 2026 (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.371038/gov.uscourts.wawd.371038.21.0.pdf); case docket (https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75053712/oneamerica-votes-v-trump/). Cover photo: U.S. Courthouse, Seattle, by SounderBruce, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).