This release was issued by our c4 partner organization, OneAmerica Votes.
SEATTLE – OneAmerica Votes, the Latino Community Fund of Washington State, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), represented by Elias Law Group LLP, filed a federal lawsuit on October 30 against President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and senior federal officials over their unlawful attempt to force Washington election officials to set aside the ballots of hundreds of registered voters.
On October 26 – just eight days before Election Day – federal prosecutors sent Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs a list of roughly 400 registered voters whom federal agencies claim “are or were noncitizens,” while conceding in the same letter that those voters “may have subsequently naturalized.” Secretary Hobbs’s preliminary review found that the federal list includes many U.S. citizens, as well as a significant number of people who are inactive or not registered to vote at all.
The letter gave the Secretary 48 hours to instruct county officials to halt the counting of those voters’ ballots and warned that more names would follow. That same day, federal officials publicly warned that election workers who process those ballots could be prosecuted, and the Acting Deputy Attorney General later sent the Secretary a letter emphasizing that mishandling ballots is a federal crime punishable by imprisonment.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges that the Trump administration’s actions violate the Voting Rights Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the U.S. Constitution, which leaves the administration of elections to the states. The plaintiffs ask the court to declare the operation unlawful and to block federal officials from interfering in Washington’s ongoing election by threatening election officials and attempting to disqualify lawful voters.
A federal court in California rejected a similar demand there on October 28, warning that “these threats must stop,” and the Ninth Circuit declined to revive it on October 30.
“The Trump administration handed Washington a list of voters it admits may be naturalized citizens, then threatened to prosecute any election official who counts their ballots,” said Elias Law Group partner Abha Khanna. “This is unlawful intimidation of election officials, plain and simple. Washington runs its elections under its own laws, and nothing in federal law lets prosecutors override that process days before Election Day. We’re asking the court to stop this scheme now so every eligible Washingtonian can cast a ballot with confidence that it will be counted.”
“Casting doubt on the integrity of our elections eight days before votes are due is outrageous,” said Roxana Norouzi, executive director of OneAmerica Votes. “Trump’s DOJ, DHS and their agents are enacting a coordinated strategy meant to silence citizen voters by intimidation. It won’t work. It’s already failing in other states, and it will fail here as well. And let’s be clear about why this is happening: this administration fears the power of our immigrant communities. All U.S. citizens—no matter where they were born—have an undeniable right to cast their ballots, and we will exercise that right in Tuesday’s elections. OneAmerica Votes and our co-plaintiffs have been directly talking to voters and our communities. Now we stand in court to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. We will not allow the DOJ to coerce Washington election officials or to scare voters from using their hard-fought rights to elect the leaders we want—leaders who understand that our democracy is OURS.”
“At LCF, we oppose these attacks on our voting rights and on our communities,” said Lilliane Ballesteros, Executive Director of Latino Community Fund of WA State. “We are days away from Election Day and these threats, again, are an attempt to sow fear and throw out eligible votes with no transparency. It’s essential that we ensure that all eligible voters have the right for their vote to count. We have been talking directly with voters across Washington State to ensure our communities are part of the state’s elections. We will not allow scare tactics to stop our immigrant communities from participating in the electoral process. These demands by Trump’s DOJ, DHS, and agents seek to undermine Washington State’s elections, which is why we are standing to protect our democracy and every voice in it.”
“Washington State has one of the safest, most secure election systems in the country, and working people trust it,” said UFCW Local 3000 President Faye Guenther, who represents thousands of UFCW members working in Washington State. “Our vote is our voice, and no eligible voter should lose their voice because of a flawed list. This demand to set aside these ballots is a transparent attempt to silence the peoples’ voice in an election that pollsters predict will swing against the President’s party, and working people simply will not stand for it.”
“The right to vote is essential to our democracy and every eligible working person deserves to exercise that right without fear or intimidation,” said UFCW International Communications Director Jessica Raimundo. “ The decisions made on election day shape our jobs, our families, and our futures. The UFCW is joining this lawsuit on behalf of our members in Washington and to ensure that working people everywhere can cast their ballots freely and fairly. Protecting the right to vote means protecting the right of working people to have a say in the policies that impact their lives.”
OneAmerica Votes is one of the largest immigrant-serving civic organizations in Washington and helps naturalized citizens register and vote. The Latino Community Fund of Washington State builds civic power in Latino, immigrant, and allied communities across Yakima, Snohomish, Pierce, Franklin, and King Counties. UFCW represents approximately 1.2 million workers across the United States and Canada, including more than 60,000 members in Washington State. All three organizations count naturalized citizens among their members and constituents and are in the final days of get-out-the-vote efforts for the November 3 general election.
Click HERE to read the full complaint.