Biden-Appointed Judge Rules That Banning Noncitizen Voting Is Unconstitutional

A federal judge in Miami dismissed a criminal case against a noncitizen accused of voting in a federal election, holding that Congress lacked authority to enact the statute used to charge her. The controversial ruling sets up a high-stakes appeal that could ultimately lead to noncitizens being able to vote in U.S. elections down the line.

U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2024, issued a 31-page order on October 1 in United States v. Cox.  The order applies only to that defendant and does not bind other courts.

The defendant, Chelsea Michelle Ann Cox, is a Jamaican national. Federal prosecutors charged her in October 2025 with a misdemeanor under 18 U.S.C. § 611, a provision enacted in 1996 as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The statute makes it unlawful for a noncitizen to vote in an election for federal office and carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine.

According to the government’s filings, Cox entered the United States on a tourist visa in 1999, overstayed that visa, and later used a fraudulent U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificate to obtain a Florida driver’s license and register to vote. Prosecutors alleged she cast ballots in federal elections beginning in 2012, including a vote in Broward County in the 2020 general election.

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🚨 BREAKING: One Biden Judge just found the federal law that makes it illegal for NONCITIZENS TO VOTE as UNCONSTITUTIONAL

SUPREME COURT, NOW!

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz in Florida ruled in favor of a JAMAICAN national because it was federal prosecutors who brought the… pic.twitter.com/6hjTII5iFZ

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 1, 2026

In his ruling, Leibowitz concluded that the statute is a voter-qualification law and that the Constitution assigns that power to the states. “Congress has no power to say who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections. Some legal principles are so fundamental that they form American constitutional bedrock, and this case reveals a big one: When you’re prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand,” the judge wrote.

He cited the text of Article I, Article II, and the Seventeenth Amendment, along with debates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and said Congress’s authority over the “Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections does not extend to defining the electorate. He also wrote that the Justice Department’s main defense rested on a Supreme Court precedent he described as “very, very weak,” adding, “So why does the Government lead with such a weak hand? Because it’s the best hand it can play.”

The order leaves state law in place. Leibowitz noted that Florida already prohibits noncitizen voting and may prosecute the same conduct under its own statutes. The ruling does not address a separate federal offense covering false claims of citizenship made in order to register or vote.

The Justice Department moved to appeal the day after the ruling. “A Biden appointed judge in Florida says that federal bans on noncitizen voting are unconstitutional. The thing that never happens is now ‘constitutionally protected activity,” Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival posted on X.

The appeal will go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Until that court or the Supreme Court rules, the statute remains available in other districts.

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