Federal judge dismisses non-citizen voting case against Chelsea Cox

A federal judge has dismissed a criminal case against Chelsea Cox, a Jamaican citizen accused of voting illegally in federal elections. U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz ruled that the federal law used to prosecute her, 18 U.S.C. Section 611, is unconstitutional.

Judge Leibowitz determined that Congress lacks the authority under this 1996 statute to criminalize non-citizen voting in federal elections, reasoning that the Constitution reserves the power to set voter qualifications to the states. While the ruling dismisses the federal charges, the judge noted that Florida maintains its own independent state laws to prohibit and penalize non-citizen voting.

Prosecutors alleged that Cox entered the United States on an expired tourist visa and used a fraudulent birth certificate from the U.S. Virgin Islands to obtain a Florida driver’s license and register to vote. Her alleged voting record spans from 2012 to 2020, though she was only charged for the 2020 election due to statute of limitations constraints on previous years. This decision marks a significant constitutional check on federal prosecutorial power regarding election procedures.