Judge Rules Federal Noncitizen Voting Ban Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz dismissed a federal criminal case against Chelsea Cox, a Jamaican national accused of voting in multiple U.S. elections between 2012 and 2020. In a 31-page opinion issued October 1, 2026, Leibowitz ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 611, a 1996 statute criminalizing noncitizen voting in federal elections, is unconstitutional. He determined that the U.S. Constitution grants the power to establish voter qualifications exclusively to the states, not to Congress.

While the ruling does not make noncitizen voting legal in Florida—where state law still prohibits the practice—it prevents federal prosecution in this instance. The decision is a setback for the administration of Donald Trump, which has charged at least 60 people with noncitizen voting since January 2025 as part of a broader crackdown on alleged election fraud. The United States Department of Justice argued the law was a valid exercise of federal power over immigration and election integrity, but the government has since appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Critics of the decision, including Senator Mike Lee and Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival, characterized the ruling as an attempt to invalidate federal law and suggested it treats illegal voting as a protected activity. The ruling is not binding nationwide, but approximately 45 similar cases remain pending, with several other defendants raising the same constitutional challenge.