A federal judge in Miami, Florida, has dismissed a criminal case against a noncitizen accused of voting in a federal election. The ruling, issued on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida, concluded that Congress lacked the constitutional authority to enact the federal statute under which the defendant was prosecuted. This decision, detailed in a 31-page ruling in the case of *United States v. Cox*, immediately drew an appeal from the Justice Department.
"Congress has no power to say who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections." U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz
Judge Leibowitz, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden in 2024, found that the federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 611, which makes it unlawful for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election, overstepped congressional power. The law, enacted in 1996, carries penalties of up to one year in prison and a fine for convictions.
The case involves Chelsea Michelle Ann Cox, a Jamaican national, who federal prosecutors charged in October 2025. According to government filings cited in the report, Cox entered the United States on a tourist visa in 1999 and subsequently overstayed it. Prosecutors alleged she later used a fraudulent U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificate to obtain a Florida driver’s license and register to vote. She was further accused of casting ballots in federal elections starting in 2012, including in Broward County during the 2020 general election.
Judge Leibowitz's core reasoning centered on the allocation of power regarding voter qualifications under the U.S. Constitution. He asserted that the Constitution reserves the authority to determine who can vote in federal elections to the states, not to Congress. "Congress has no power to say who can vote or who cannot vote in federal elections," the judge wrote. He characterized the issue as a fundamental principle of constitutional law regarding voter qualifications.
In his ruling, Leibowitz cited Article I, Article II, and the Seventeenth Amendment, along with discussions from the 1787 Constitutional Convention, to support his interpretation. He distinguished Congress’s established authority to regulate the "Times, Places and Manner" of federal elections from the power to set voter qualifications. According to the judge, the federal statute under which Cox was charged amounted to an unconstitutional voter-qualification law. "When you’re prosecuted based on a law that Congress did not have the authority to pass, the prosecution cannot stand," Leibowitz stated.
The judge also critiqued the Justice Department's primary arguments, describing the Supreme Court precedent relied upon by prosecutors as "very, very weak." He questioned the government's strategy, writing, "So why does the Government lead with such a weak hand? Because it’s the best hand it can play."
It is important to note the specific scope and limitations of this ruling. The decision to dismiss the charge against Cox does not mean that noncitizens are now permitted to vote in Florida or elsewhere. Judge Leibowitz explicitly clarified that Florida state law independently prohibits noncitizen voting. Consequently, state authorities retain the power to prosecute individuals under Florida’s own election laws for such conduct. The ruling also did not address separate federal offenses related to false claims of U.S. citizenship made for purposes such as registering or voting.
The Justice Department swiftly announced its intent to challenge the decision, filing an appeal one day after the ruling was issued. The case will now proceed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for review. James Percival, General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, publicly criticized the decision, stating, "A Biden appointed judge in Florida says that federal bans on noncitizen voting are unconstitutional." He characterized the ruling as treating long-prohibited conduct as constitutionally protected, though Leibowitz’s order specifically focused on Congress's authority to enact the statute rather than a general right for noncitizens to vote.
For now, the practical reach of the decision remains confined. It dismisses the charge against Cox but does not automatically invalidate the federal law nationwide. Other federal districts may continue to apply 18 U.S.C. § 611 unless higher courts issue a broader ruling. The Eleventh Circuit will now scrutinize Judge Leibowitz’s constitutional reasoning, and the dispute could potentially reach the Supreme Court if the litigation continues. This legal challenge sets the stage for a significant debate over the division of power between federal and state governments concerning election laws and voter qualifications.
