A federal judge in Florida has ruled that a federal law criminalizing voting by noncitizens is unconstitutional, dismissing the case against a Jamaican national accused of illegally voting in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the charges against Chelsea Cox, a Florida resident who was charged in October 2025 under a 1996 federal law that makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The ruling applies only to Cox’s case and is not binding on other courts.
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Leibowitz concluded that Congress lacks the constitutional authority to establish voter qualifications for federal elections because that power belongs to the states. His decision marks the first reported instance of a federal court finding the 1996 statute unconstitutional.
The law was enacted as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Prosecutors alleged that Cox, who is not a U.S. citizen, voted in the 2020 presidential election. The government had also alleged that she previously registered and voted in other elections, although those earlier instances were outside the applicable statute of limitations for the federal criminal charge.
Cox’s case is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to prosecute alleged noncitizen voting and increase federal involvement in verifying voter eligibility. The Justice Department has charged at least 60 people with noncitizen voting since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to Reuters.
The administration has argued that federal authorities have a legitimate role in protecting the integrity of federal elections. The Justice Department has also defended Congress’s authority to prohibit noncitizens from voting, citing federal powers over elections and immigration.
Leibowitz’s ruling does not mean noncitizens are now legally entitled to vote in U.S. elections. All states currently require U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections, and the decision does not prevent states from enforcing their own voter-eligibility laws. Instead, it challenges the federal government’s authority to criminally prosecute noncitizen voting under the 1996 statute.
The ruling could face further legal review, and its broader implications will depend on whether other federal courts reach the same conclusion. For now, however, Cox’s federal prosecution has been dismissed following the judge’s constitutional ruling.
