The Department of Justice said Monday that federal investigators have found more than 400 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Washington state. Authorities said some of those individuals cast ballots in multiple elections over a period stretching back several decades.
According to the US attorney’s offices for Washington’s Eastern and Western districts, many of the people identified are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders.
“We have identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Neil Floyd, acting US attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement.
“We will continue to investigate and identify those who are committing crimes by voting illegally.”
The Washington investigation follows separate DOJ action involving Los Angeles County, where the department has moved to set aside about 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people whose citizenship status is being questioned.
Immigration officials also told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that a nationwide voter fraud investigation has resulted in the arrests of dozens of noncitizens.
Floyd told Fox News Digital that investigators compared voter records with information from US Citizenship and Immigration Services. That review found instances in which people who had applied for certain immigration benefits had also participated in elections.
Some of the individuals had voted once or three times, Floyd said, while others had cast ballots as many as 27 times. His office identified roughly 1,500 separate instances of noncitizens voting.
Floyd added that some of the voting activity continued for decades, including years before Washington moved to an elections system conducted primarily by mail.
“I think the earliest moment we have is 1984,” Floyd said. “It’s early ‘90s, late ’80s, I believe.”
Floyd said investigators had not determined whether any of those individuals voted in the upcoming midterms, explaining that he did not want to “interfere with the current election.”
The total number of noncitizen voters could be substantially higher, Floyd said, because the investigation covered only people who had applied for certain benefits in Washington.
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“If you take that population, and you expand it out to include all the people that are here illegally that we haven’t had contact with, just my estimation is that it’s going to be in the thousands,” Floyd said.
Federal officials said some green card holders may have been added to voter rolls without realizing it through Washington’s Motor Voter program, which connects voter registration with the state Department of Licensing.
“We have heard from green card holders who were registered against their knowledge via the Washington Motor Voter program. Then they receive a ballot in the mail and assume they are legally registered — that simply is not the case,” the notice said.
The Washington secretary of state’s website says eligible residents are automatically registered to vote only after providing proof of US citizenship while obtaining or renewing a driver’s license or identification card.
The findings have led federal officials to examine how weaknesses in Washington’s voter registration system may have allowed the registrations to occur, Floyd said.
In its notice, the DOJ asked Washington officials to set aside ballots cast by the identified individuals while their citizenship status is reviewed and confirmed.
“Washington is now on notice that noncitizens are voting. It is up to the state to take action to make sure that they are not allowing these noncitizens to vote illegally,” the notice said.
Federal officials warned that voting while not eligible to do so can create serious immigration consequences, particularly for people seeking US citizenship. Possible offenses include making false statements on a naturalization application and fraudulently registering to vote.
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital numerous illegal aliens had also admitted to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots in US elections.
Of the dozens of suspects arrested, at least 18 had voted in a federal election.
The individuals were from a range of countries, including Mexico, Somalia, Honduras, Guyana, Cuba, Germany, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cambodia, Guatemala, Portugal and Italy.
Many also faced charges for numerous alleged crimes, including counterfeiting, fraud, kidnapping, DUI, sexual offenses, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug possession and burglary.
