Statement about Washington’s safe and secure elections

OLYMPIA — The Office of the Secretary of State has received a letter from the Department of Justice requesting information about individuals appearing on Washington’s voter rolls.

We are carefully reviewing the request and assessing the information sought to ensure that our response complies with applicable state and federal laws.

The United States Constitution is clear that the authority to administer elections rests with the states. Courts around the country have confirmed that, including through the unanimous rejection of DOJ’s demands for confidential information on the state voter roll. The DOJ lost their fight in court for Washington’s complete voter rolls last month.

“We take our responsibility to protect voter information seriously and will only respond to requests that follow due process. We saw what happened in California and don’t want Washingtonians to be harassed,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said.

Federal law protects the right to vote by limiting the ability of states and counties to remove voters within 90 days of a federal election. Our office complies with federal and state law protections to ensure that eligible citizens have their ballots counted.

“The timing of this request—one week before the General Election—is no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results. At the same time, thousands of voters were recently disenfranchised in our August Primary due to delayed postmarks.”

Washington elections are secure. Cases of voter fraud, including noncitizen voting, are incredibly rare, and every voter attests to their eligibility by signing the declaration on their ballot return envelope in every election. Election officials take cases of suspected voter fraud seriously. These cases are investigated and referred to the county sheriff and prosecutor when appropriate.

The system the DOJ uses frequently flags legitimate U.S. citizens as noncitizens, jeopardizing their legal right to vote. It also exposes voters’ private data to a 10-year retention period, which is a serious privacy risk.

One of the approximately 400 records in the DOJ letter is from 1994. Since 1994, 113.5 million primary and general election ballots have been cast in Washington state.

The Office of the Secretary of State meets regularly with federal and state agencies, including the United States Attorney’s Office, to discuss election-related matters.

Delays in the postmarking process have already increased ballot rejections by 300 to 500% in some Washington counties. Of the 1.9 million ballots returned in the 2026 August Primary, just over 20,000 were rejected due to a late postmark. By comparison, in the much larger 2024 General Election, about 4,600 of 4 million returned ballots were rejected. This shows a significant increase and clearly disenfranchises eligible voters.

“At a time when thousands of Washington voters already face ballot rejections due to delayed postmarks, our focus should be on ensuring every eligible voter can exercise their right to vote, not creating additional uncertainty about their eligibility,” said Hobbs.

“Our priority remains protecting Washington citizens’ right to vote and their private information. We will not release information that is protected under state and federal law.”

Ballots are due by November 3, and voters are urged to use ballot drop boxes, not the U.S. Post Office.