MIAMI — US District Judge David Leibowitz dismissed a federal case against Chelsea Cox on Thursday. He ruled that the federal law criminalizing voting by noncitizens is unconstitutional.

He found that under the US Constitution, only individual states have the authority to set voter qualifications, not the US Congress. He wrote that every state already requires US citizenship to vote.

"Can the State of Florida prohibit and punish the exact conduct Defendant Cox allegedly engaged in here? This has already been decided elsewhere and is not addressed here: Florida can and does," he wrote.

Federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing that foreign interference in elections is clearly within the purview of Congress. Bruce Udolf is Cox's lawyer and he welcomed the ruling.

"This is a situation that cries out for discretion by government officials, and they’d be well-advised to walk away from this without further reprisal against her," said Udolf. He said he hoped authorities would not seek to deport Cox, citing her declining health conditions.

Cox is a Florida resident originally from Jamaica. Court filings show Cox entered the US as a tourist in 1999. She overstayed her visa after entering the US.

Cox used a fraudulent birth certificate from the US Virgin Islands to obtain a Florida driver’s license. She used the fraudulent documents to register to vote in 2012. Records show Cox voted in federal elections from 2012 to 2020.

Only the 2020 election charge against Cox was within the statute of limitations. Cox was charged in October 2025 with illegally voting in the 2020 presidential election. He was nominated to the bench by former Democratic President Joe Biden.

About 45 similar noncitizen voting cases remain pending nationwide. At least four other defendants have raised the same constitutional challenge to the noncitizen voting law. The Department of Justice has charged at least 60 people with noncitizen voting since January 2025.

Among 129 people charged with "voting by an alien" since 2021, none was accused of conspiring to sway an election, backing a candidate, or being paid to vote. Most people charged with noncitizen voting were lawful permanent residents who registered by mistake or on incorrect advice from an election worker or government clerk.

President Donald Trump has claimed that noncitizen voting cost him the 2020 election. He has cast noncitizen voting as part of a broader effort by Democrats to dilute Republican support. On July 16, 2026, Trump stated that 278,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said about 400 noncitizens in her state voted after a software error mistakenly registered about 6,600 people in 2023-24. The Justice Department has demanded the names, nationalities, and addresses of the noncitizens who voted in New Jersey.

Why It Matters

His ruling represents a legal development as the first instance where a federal court has declared the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act unconstitutional regarding noncitizen voting. The decision rests on the constitutional principle that states, rather than Congress, hold the authority to determine voter qualifications. While the ruling is limited to Cox's case and does not bind other judges, it arrives as approximately 45 similar cases remain pending across the country.

The case intersects with ongoing political debates, as Trump has asserted that noncitizen voting influenced the 2020 election outcome and framed it as a partisan strategy. Recent data indicates that while the Department of Justice has increased charges for noncitizen voting, most defendants are lawful permanent residents who registered due to errors or misinformation rather than malicious intent. The resolution of Cox's case may influence how prosecutors proceed with the remaining pending cases and whether other defendants pursue similar constitutional challenges.

Timeline

Cox used the fraudulent documents to register to vote in 2012. On September 8, 2023, the Department of Justice published a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to rescind an enjoined December 2020 rule that imposed novel limits on the authority of immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals to efficiently dispose of cases.

Kai Spears, stating the opinion is subject to formal revision before publication. On October 1, 2026, he wrote that Florida can and does prohibit the conduct Cox allegedly engaged in.

What's New

His ruling marks the first time a federal court has found the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) unconstitutional in the context of noncitizen voting. He previously ruled in 2022 that state-level immigration enforcement policies must comply with federal constitutional standards, setting a precedent for his current decision on noncitizen voting.

Sherrill said about 400 noncitizens in her state voted after a software error mistakenly registered about 6,600 people in 2023-24.