‘The state said, pound sand’: Jake and Spike clash over election integrity as court revives DOJ ballot requests

A federal appeals court ruling on Election Day restarted the argument between KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill over noncitizen voting and trust in elections. Jake defended the federal government’s push to scrutinize voter rolls. Spike warned that exaggerated fraud claims damage confidence in elections.

“I firmly believe we can trust the elections,” Spike said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Jake wasn’t convinced. He pointed to Washington’s refusal to set aside ballots flagged by the Justice Department.

“And they didn’t ask in October; they asked months ago, and the state said, ‘pound sand,’” Jake said.

In a 6-5 vote Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the Trump administration to warn election officials that they could be prosecuted if they don’t comply with its demands, according to CNN. It was the third time in less than 24 hours that the court changed course on limits a district judge had placed on the Justice Department.

The Washington list

On Oct. 26, federal prosecutors sent Secretary of State Steve Hobbs a list of 405 people they said “are or were noncitizens” and were registered to vote. Prosecutors linked those voters to about 1,500 votes in past elections and gave Hobbs 48 hours to tell county officials to set aside their ballots.

Hobbs rejected the request.

“They’re sending this dumpster fire disguised as a legal document rife with mistakes – they can’t even get the election date right – I’m not going to do anything with this list because it’s garbage,” Hobbs told KOMO News.

Hobbs also acknowledged that the state doesn’t check voter rolls against citizenship records and instead relies on people to attest to their citizenship when they register, according to KOMO.

Jake argued that Hobbs’ admission undercuts his criticism of the list.

“Steve Hobbs says that’s a dumpster fire of a list,” Jake said.

Spike noted that Hobbs’ office found that some of the people on the list are already citizens. Jake pressed him on how many.

“We don’t know exactly,” Spike acknowledged.

The Trump administration made a similar request in California, which has about 20,000 ballots, according to The Associated Press. Last week, a separate 9th Circuit panel rejected the Justice Department’s request to have California set those ballots aside.

Spike: ‘It’s the hyperbole’

Spike made clear that he supports secure elections and accurate voter rolls. His objection is to sweeping claims of fraud.

“We’re all for election integrity. We’re all for voter rolls, security, and validity. It’s just the hyperbole that comes with,” Spike said.

He argued that disputed votes rarely come close to deciding major races.

“When we’re talking about millions and millions of separation between candidates,” Spike said.

Jake brought up Washington’s 2004 governor’s race, in which Christine Gregoire defeated Dino Rossi by 129 votes after a hand recount.

“Sometimes it’s 129 votes,” Jake said.

Jake questioned why the decisive votes turned up only after repeated counts.

“Why didn’t they find them the first two times they recounted?” Jake asked.

Spike warned that kind of suggestion implies foul play without proof.

“There’s no evidence of that,” Spike said.

Jake didn’t back down.

“I don’t know that it’s not foul play,” Jake said.

‘I don’t think it’s dangerous to ask questions’

Spike pointed to President Donald Trump’s claim that Democrats can’t win elections without cheating.

“That right there is dangerous,” Spike said.

Jake defended the federal requests.

“I don’t think it’s dangerous to ask questions,” Jake said.

Spike agreed with that but argued it isn’t what Trump is doing.

“I don’t either. But it’s not what Donald Trump’s doing,” Spike said.

Jake countered that a state refusing to let the federal government look could be just as harmful. Spike pushed back, arguing that federal privacy law and the Constitution leave elections to the states.

Jake suggested that Washington check the list itself and report back to federal officials. Spike pointed to the state’s honor system for registering voters.

“Are you a U.S. citizen? Yes. And there’s no way to check that,” Spike said.

On that point, the hosts found common ground.

“They should amend the system that currently is not adequate,” Jake said.

Spike agreed that the state should build a system to verify voters’ eligibility well before the next presidential election.

“Let’s not wait till October of 2028,” Spike said.

‘This is stoppage time’

Jake and Spike also touched on Election Day voting machine problems.

Spike mentioned a polling place in another state that extended voting by 15 minutes after machine trouble forced it to close temporarily.

“It’s like soccer. This is stoppage time. I love it,” Jake said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3