Activist Judge Belies the Left’s Non-Citizen Voting Narrative

A Biden-appointed judge in southern Florida called the federal law banning non-citizen voting unconstitutional. US District Judge David Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida dismissed federal charges against a Jamaican woman who voted in the 2020 presidential election, despite not being a citizen. He’s now being called an activist judge by conservatives. Are they right? Is non-citizen voting really a state issue? Well, it doesn’t take a law degree or years of experience in the courtroom to read the Constitution – and that doesn’t leave many alternatives.

A Constitutional Conundrum

In a 31-page ruling, Judge Leibowitz said the Constitution gives states the sole authority to determine who can vote in elections, not Congress. As such, the law used to prosecute Chelsea Cox was unconstitutional. “The Constitution commits to the States, and the states alone, the general power to set voter qualifications in federal elections,” he wrote. “This is clear from both the text of the document and the debates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.”

When a federal judge says the Constitution is clear, that is the word of an expert, someone who knows – or, at least, should know – better than most. Frequently the Constitution is, in fact, not so clear. This time, however, it is. Here’s what it says in Article I, Section 4:

“The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”

The language here is indeed quite plain, leaving no room for interpretation. As Judge Leibowitz argued, it does grant the state legislatures the task of setting election law. However, as it clearly states in the second half of the sentence, Congress absolutely has the power to alter any of those laws except the places of choosing Senators. Anything else – from Election Day to whether or not to allow non-citizen voting – is well within the authority of federal lawmakers, should they choose to exercise it.

And wouldn’t you know it? Congress did choose to exercise that authority to prohibit non-citizen voting.

18 U.S.C. § 611 reads, in part:

“(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner…”

The next word is “unless,” and there follow three conditions that all must be met in order to exempt non-citizens from this law. But to be exempted, the election has to be held at least partly for reasons other than federal positions, aliens must be allowed to vote by state or local law, and the elections said aliens can vote in must be separate from the federal ones.

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Several other federal laws enhance this prohibition – including 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(6), which makes non-citizen voting in violation of any federal, state, or local law a deportable offense. Though some localities have explicitly allowed non-citizen voting – which, therefore, only applies to local elections within those jurisdictions – no state has passed a law to allow it. In fact, many have passed laws forbidding it.

Non-Citizen Voting – Another Moving Goalpost

Liberty Nation News has reported numerous times on the issue of non-citizen voting since President Donald Trump first claimed the 2020 election was stolen through fraud. The left, of course, parroted all along the progressive talking point that there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Add up all the known or even suspected instances of fraudulent non-citizen voting in 2020 and you likely wouldn’t come close to the more than 7 million ballots Joe Biden won over Trump.

But we do know that it happened – and Chelsea Cox was just one of many who got caught. What, then, will the left do in the face of proof? Well, as Judge Leibowitz recently demonstrated, they’ll simply say it happens, but it’s okay. They’ll ignore the plain language of the Constitution to justify their position – and move that goalpost yet again. For now, at least, it isn’t about the lack of evidence. The new narrative is that it’s a constitutional right.