Florida federal judge rules noncitizen voting ban unconstitutional

Key Points:

• U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz, appointed by President Biden, ruled that a federal law criminalizing noncitizen voting in federal elections is unconstitutional as applied in the case of Chelsea Cox, who voted in 2020 despite not being a U.S. citizen.
• Leibowitz's 31-page decision emphasized that the Constitution grants states, not Congress, the authority to set voter qualifications for federal elections, challenging the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
• Conservative critics, including Senator Mike Lee and legal experts like Hans von Spakovsky, condemned the ruling as activist and predicted it would be overturned on appeal, arguing Congress has authority over naturalization and can bar noncitizens from voting.
• The ruling comes amid intensified federal efforts under the Trump administration to prevent noncitizen voting, sparking legal conflicts with Democratic-led states and voting rights groups.
• While the federal charges against Cox were dismissed, Florida retains the option to pursue state-level prosecution; this ruling marks Judge Leibowitz's most politically significant decision since his 2024 appointment.