US judge finds law criminalizing noncitizen voting unconstitutional

A US judge dismissed a federal case against a Jamaican national accused of illegally voting, ruling that the 1996 law criminalizing noncitizen voting is unconstitutional. The decision applies only to this case but marks a setback for the Trump administration's campaign against alleged election fraud ahead of the midterm elections. The ruling by Miami-based US District Judge David Leibowitz found that only states can set voter qualifications, not Congress.

A US judge dismissed a federal case against a Jamaican national accused of illegally voting, ruling that the 1996 law criminalizing noncitizen voting is unconstitutional. The decision by Miami-based US District Judge David Leibowitz applies only to the case of Florida resident Chelsea Cox, who was charged in October 2025 with illegally voting in the 2020 election. Leibowitz wrote that under the US Constitution, only states can set voter qualifications, not Congress, and that it was up to Florida, not the Department of Justice, to prosecute her. The ruling marks a setback for the Trump administration's campaign against alleged election fraud ahead of November's midterm elections. The Justice Department has charged at least 60 people with noncitizen voting since Trump returned to office in January 2025. Cox entered the US as a tourist in 1999 and remained after her visa expired. She used a fraudulent birth certificate to obtain a driver's license and registered to vote in 2012, voting in federal elections through 2020. There are about 45 pending noncitizen voting cases nationwide, and at least four other defendants have challenged the law on similar grounds. A Reuters investigation published in July found that most accused noncitizen voters were lawful permanent residents who registered by mistake or were encouraged by election workers.