By Jerry Cornfield and Jake Goldstein-Street | Reporters
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called on federal prosecutors Wednesday to provide more evidence that the state’s voter rolls include hundreds of noncitizens after a preliminary investigation by his office found many on a list that they provided are, in fact, U.S. citizens.
Federal officials on Monday claimed 405 ineligible noncitizens had voted upward of 1,500 times in elections dating back decades. Hobbs, in a stinging written rebuke, said their information contained “several glaring deficiencies.”
Also in today’s edition…
• Sean Robinson is the Standard’s new editor.
• Glaciers in the western states are steadily disappearing.
• And, election court battles with the president are piling up.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By Jake Goldstein-Street
The state’s top federal prosecutors want Hobbs to set aside votes cast by anyone on their list until it can be confirmed they are legal voters. Hobbs won’t. In a letter he said without proof of their ineligibility, “it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot.”
Hobbs’ response potentially sets the stage for litigation from the Trump administration, similar to what’s been seen in California where the feds have argued ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters should not be counted in next week’s midterm elections.
Meet the new guy. Sean Robinson, a veteran Pacific Northwest journalist, took the helm as editor-in-chief of the Washington State Standard. (Photo by John Froschauer)
By Washington State Standard staff
Veteran journalist Sean Robinson has joined the Washington State Standard as editor-in-chief.
Born in Washington, Robinson started his career in suburban weekly newspapers before moving to the Tacoma News Tribune, where he spent 20 years as an award-winning investigative reporter before shifting to an editing role.
“We’re happy to have Sean on board leading the Standard at this crucial time. His deep knowledge of Washington and his leadership skills make him perfectly suited for this role,’’ said Chris Fitzsimon, States Newsroom publisher and CEO.
A view of glacier-clad peaks in Washington’s North Cascades. Snow in Idaho, western Montana, the Washington Cascades and Snake River Basin melted two to five weeks earlier than normal in 2026, and in parts of the Oregon Cascades, mountain snowpack melted two months earlier than normal, according to Washington's state climatologist. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
By Alex Baumhardt
Washington and other western states have lost more than one-third of their glacial cover since 1950 and more than 300 glaciers in those states have disappeared entirely as the earth has rapidly warmed, a first-of-its-kind inventory and analysis confirms.
Researchers at Portland State University and the U.S. Geological Survey built their findings on an earlier analysis that looked at the lost area and volume among 612 federally recognized glaciers in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming since 1950.
By Jonathan Shorman
Democrats and voting rights advocates have long feared President Donald Trump would attempt to interfere in the midterm elections, especially if Republicans appear poised to lose control of Congress. With early voting well underway across much of the country, they say those concerns are being confirmed as the Trump administration rushes forward a last-minute legal campaign to pressure election officials in a growing number of states.
The U.S. Department of Justice over the past two weeks has sued Alaska and California, seeking extraordinary federal intervention in their elections. And the announcement of hundreds of alleged noncitizen voters in Washington state are a sign the legal campaign might expand.
ICYMI
Advocates renew calls for state to limit feds’ access to license data | by Jake Goldstein-Street
Amid legal concerns, WA suspends contribution limits for candidates and PACs | by Jerry Cornfield
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