Miami ruling limits federal case over alleged noncitizen voting
A judge dismissed Chelsea Cox’s federal case, finding voter qualifications fall to the states. The decision applies only to her case.
US District Judge David Leibowitz has dismissed the federal case against Florida resident Chelsea Cox, ruling that Congress does not have authority to set voter qualifications. He said that responsibility belongs to individual states.
Cox was charged in October 2025 over voting in the 2020 presidential election. Leibowitz said Florida has laws addressing the conduct she is accused of, and that the state, rather than the Department of Justice, can prosecute her.
The ruling is confined to Cox’s case and does not bind other judges. About 45 similar cases remain pending nationwide, according to the source report; at least four other defendants have raised the same constitutional challenge.
Court filings cited in the report allege Cox overstayed a tourist visa and used a fraudulent birth certificate to obtain a Florida driver’s licence and register to vote. Her lawyer welcomed the decision and said he hoped authorities would not seek to deport her.
The Department of Justice has charged at least 60 people with noncitizen voting offences since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the report said. It also cited Reuters data indicating that none of 129 people charged with “voting by an alien” since 2021 was accused of conspiring to sway an election.
