Trump Questions Midterm Integrity as DOJ Presses Washington Over 400 Voters

President Donald Trump cast doubt on the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday, stating he would respect the results only if the contests were honest. The comments arrived one day after his administration issued a legal threat to Washington state regarding voter registration lists.

Responding to reporters, Trump said, “I will if they’re honest elections,” when asked if he would accept a loss of congressional control by his Republican Party. This follows a letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding that Washington remove approximately 400 people it claims are not U.S. citizens from its voter rolls.

The DOJ gave the state until Wednesday at noon local time to respond to the request. If Washington did not comply, the department threatened to seek “emergency relief” in court. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs criticized the timing of the demand, noting it arrived just one week before the general election.

Hobbs stated in a Monday statement that the request was “no doubt intended to cast unfounded suspicion on the results.” His office confirmed it is reviewing the list of 400 individuals but found that some entries rely on outdated data. Hobbs pointed to one specific case where the DOJ cited a record from 1994 to classify a voter as a noncitizen.

The secretary’s office maintained that Washington’s elections remain secure. Hobbs noted that voter fraud, including voting by noncitizens, is incredibly rare. He added that every voter signs a declaration of eligibility on their ballot return envelope in each election, reinforcing the state’s confidence in the process.

Washington is not the first state to face this pressure. Last month, the state successfully argued in a lawsuit that it was not required to hand over its entire voter list to the DOJ. This victory came amid a broader legal fight involving dozens of Democrat-led states that have faced similar demands from the Trump administration. Several of those states have won in court against the federal mandate.

Despite these judicial setbacks, the DOJ continues to pursue legal actions designed to challenge the integrity of the November 3 vote. A central part of this strategy involves claiming that large numbers of noncitizens are voting in states led by Democrats, a position that voting rights groups with bipartisan support have repeatedly dismissed.

Last week, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Alaska. The suit argues that the state should block certification of its Senate election if incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan does not win. The department claims local authorities failed to fairly run the election because another candidate with the same name appears on the ballot. The DOJ noted that the ballot includes information indicating which Dan Sullivan is the incumbent.

Trump said on Friday that he personally instructed the DOJ to file the Alaska lawsuit. The Senate race is one of several where Democrats could potentially win control of the legislative body. The department also plans to deploy a record number of election observers across the country on November 3, a move opposed by local officials in states such as New Jersey and California.

Earlier this month, California received a letter demanding it review a list of around 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters. State authorities said a large percentage of those individuals appeared to be U.S.-born, which would automatically make them eligible. The DOJ’s observer deployment departs from its historical practice, which typically targeted locations with records of civil rights violations or barriers for minority voters.