Judge Dismisses Case Against Noncitizen Voter, Challenges Constitutionality of Federal Law

In a significant development for the Trump administration’s campaign against noncitizens voting in U.S. elections, a judge has dismissed a federal case involving a Jamaican national. The ruling found the law under which she was charged to be unconstitutional.

Miami-based U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz issued a 31-page order for the case against Chelsea Cox, charged with illegal voting in 2020. Judge Leibowitz deemed the federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 611, unconstitutional, asserting that only states have the authority to set voter qualifications under the U.S. Constitution.

This decision pertains solely to Cox but may impact the Justice Department’s efforts to focus on noncitizen voting, a practice often alleged by President Trump but viewed by experts as rare.

The Justice Department promptly appealed Leibowitz’s ruling; a spokesperson did not comment immediately.

The dismissed statute classified voting by noncitizens as a misdemeanor but does not impact laws against spurious claims of citizenship to vote—used by the Justice Department recently.

“This is an unusual criminal case. It rests upon a forty-year-old federal statute… Until very recently, no federal court has been presented with this statute’s constitutional question,” Leibowitz stated. The judge noted the Justice Department’s defense was based on a weak Supreme Court case.

Cox’s attorney, Bruce Udolf, expressed relief at the ruling and claimed it was a “huge relief” for Cox, who recently had a medical procedure.

Federal prosecutors accused Cox of staying beyond her tourist visa’s duration for over 20 years and fraudulently obtaining a Florida driver’s license using a fake U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificate. They alleged she voted in several elections since 2012, leading to the charges from the 2020 election.

Cox’s defense argued the law “exceeds Congress’s authority and intrudes on states’ reserved powers.” Prosecutors highlighted the federal government’s significant role in elections, arguing that excluding noncitizens is a federal oversight right.

Judge Leibowitz sought Paul Clement’s analysis, a Supreme Court litigator, who found Congress may have “overstepped constitutional bounds” with §611.

Clement noted while states do not currently allow noncitizens to vote federally, historically some have done so. He reiterated that states—not the federal government—determine voter qualifications.