The Trump administration’s crusade for voter rolls hit another snag in Washington state this week after the Department of Justice (DOJ) fumbled basic legal procedures.
A federal judge is now demanding answers about why the department failed to properly serve their lawsuit, missed a critical deadline and appeared to mislead the court — turning what should have been a routine procedural step into a litigation disaster.
The amateurish blunders are just the latest example of incompetence undermining the department’s shambolic quest for voter’s unredacted personal data.
The DOJ’s case against Washington began like dozens of others in its nationwide campaign, demanding in December that Secretary of State Steve Hobbs turn over the state’s unredacted voter rolls.
But more than three months later, the government still hadn’t properly notified Hobbs that he was being sued — a basic legal requirement known as “service of process.”
“We would expect the U.S. Department of Justice to know how to properly file a lawsuit in federal court,” Hobbs’ office told Democracy Docket in December. “We would also expect them to follow official procedures of serving the complaint prior to reaching out to media outlets, considering the important nature of voter data.”
A federal judge had to step in, ordering the DOJ last week to either prove it had served Hobbs or explain why the case should not be dismissed.
“The Complaint in this matter was filed on December 2, 2025. To date, no proof of service of...
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