Judge says federal law banning noncitizen voting is unconstitutional, tell me about this news today

A federal district judge in Miami ruled that the 1996 federal law criminalizing noncitizen voting is unconstitutional, marking the first time a federal court has struck down the statute.

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The Case and the Ruling

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz dismissed a federal criminal indictment against Chelsea Cox, a Jamaican national residing in Florida who was accused of unlawfully voting in the 2020 election.

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The ruling centers on constitutional authority over elections:

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• States’ Powers vs. Federal Authority: Judge Leibowitz concluded that under Article I, Section 2 and the Seventeenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the power to establish qualifications for voters belongs strictly to individual states, not to Congress.

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• The Defense Argument: Cox’s defense argued that while all 50 states independently require U.S. citizenship to vote in statewide and national elections, policing or prosecuting those state-level voter criteria is a state-level power, not one Congress can override with a federal criminal statute.

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• The Government’s Position: The U.S. Department of Justice contended that Congress holds broad constitutional authority over foreign affairs, immigration, and protecting federal elections from foreign interference.

Scope and Immediate Impact

• Narrow Application: Because this is a decision by a single federal district judge, it applies directly only to Chelsea Cox’s specific criminal case. It does not create binding precedent for other federal judges or strike down the statute nationwide.

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• Noncitizens Still Cannot Vote: This decision does not make noncitizen voting legal. Every U.S. state has laws restricting voting to U.S. citizens, and those state laws and state-level penalties remain fully intact and enforceable.

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• Broader Enforcement Repercussions: The ruling creates a significant hurdle for federal prosecutors relying on the 1996 federal statute (“voting by an alien”) to pursue criminal charges, and it may serve as persuasive authority for defense attorneys challenging similar prosecutions across the country. An appeal by the Justice Department to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is widely expected.

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