Federal Laws Protecting Against Intimidation and Election Interference

Civil Provisions

Protections Against Intimidation

• Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b): prohibits actual or attempted “intimidation,” “threats,” or “coercion” against a person “for voting or attempting to vote” or “for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.” No showing of intent to intimidate is required so long as the behavior has the effect of intimidating voters.
• Section 131(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, 52 U.S.C. § 10101(b): prohibits actual or attempted “intimidation,” “threats,” or “coercion” with the purpose of interfering with a person’s right to vote in federal elections.
• Section 2 of the Enforcement Act of 1871 (“Ku Klux Klan Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 1985(1): prohibits two or more persons from conspiring to use “force, intimidation, or threat” to prevent a person from “discharging any duties” related to administering a federal election.
• Section 2 of the Enforcement Act of 1871 (“Ku Klux Klan Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3): prohibits two or more persons from conspiring to use “force, intimidation, or threat” to deprive a person of equal protection, to hinder state officials in securing equal protection for others, or to prevent voters from engaging in lawful activity related to voting in federal elections.

Protections Against Mass Challenges 

• Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 52 U.S.C. § 20507: protects against mass voter challenges by, for example:
  • Requiring that one of three conditions be satisfied before removing a voter from the rolls due to a change in residence:
    • the voter has requested to be removed;
    • the voter has confirmed in writing a change in residence; or
    • the voter has failed to respond to a notice and failed to vote during the next two federal general election cycles after receiving the notice (“notice-and-waiting”).footnote1_zJ79gRosajN9lqLaa-rHlmEQ8ckSf5qvuTK9Lsz1dj8_teUDfWrfiRsY1 52 U.S.C. §§ 20507(a)(3), (d).
  • Prohibiting systematic removal of voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.footnote2_gMU4pKaaGGtR0djXke9owYAHAATVZbmZt7GBXP2Bc7Y_syeY3zEXzYYn2 52 U.S.C. § 20507(c)(2)(A).

Protections Against Interference by Military and Government Officials

• Section 1 of the Enforcement Act of 1871 (“Ku Klux Klan Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 1983: prohibits any state official from violating the constitutional rights of any person, including the right to vote, the right to equal protection, and the right to due process.
• 52 U.S.C. § 10102: prohibits officers of the U.S. military from interfering with “the freedom of any election in any State” or “the exercise of the free right of suffrage in any State.” 

Criminal Provisions

Protections Against Intimidation

• Section 12 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 52 U.S.C. § 20511(1)(A): provides criminal penalties for “knowing” and “willful” actual or attempted intimidation, threats, or coercion against any person registering to vote, voting, or attempting to register or vote. It also protects those who urge or aid any person to do the same.
• 18 U.S.C. § 241: provides criminal penalties for any person who conspires with another to intimidate any person exercising a constitutional right, including the right to vote.
• 18 U.S.C. § 594: provides criminal penalties for any person who intimidates or attempts to intimidate voters with the purpose of interfering with their right to vote.
• 52 U.S.C. § 10308(a): provides criminal penalties for any person who deprives or conspires to deprive a voter of their right to vote.
• 18 U.S.C. § 875(c): provides criminal penalties for any person who threatens to injure another person using methods of interstate communication.

Protections Against Interference by Military and Government Officials

• 18 U.S.C. § 242: provides criminal penalties for a state official who willfully subjects a citizen to the deprivation of a constitutional right, including the right to vote.
• 18 U.S.C. § 592: provides criminal penalties for any federal official who stations “troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held” except when necessary “to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
• 18 U.S.C. § 593: provides criminal penalties for any member of the U.S. military who intimidates voters or interferes “in any manner with an election officer’s discharge of [their] duties.”
• 18 U.S.C. § 595: provides criminal penalties for any government employee who uses their official authority in connection with federally financed activity to interfere with or influence a federal election.
• 18 U.S.C. § 598: provides criminal penalties for any person who uses congressional appropriations “for the purpose of interfering with, restraining, or coercing” any person in the exercise of the right to vote.

Examples of Prohibited Intimidation

• Actual or threatened violent or physical acts.footnote3_yAUNHwqYWeB-Uzp9jvMYrN6BpRrYU3WFK6CCaFi4_gPrnlJ3Qrpky3Katzenbach v. Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 250 F. Supp. 330 (E.D. La. 1965); Council on American-Islamic Relations — Minnesota v. Atlas Aegis, LLC, 497 F. Supp. 3d 371, 379 (D. Minn. 2020).
• Improperly following, monitoring, or surveilling voters at polling places.footnote4_WJeA1texXJSmYBY6tvPWHspqsE4IDYFe-0JdUsMkntc_lkeBoGRIw3Qx4Daschle v. Thune, No. Civ. 04–4177, 2004 WL 3650153 (D.S.D. Nov. 1, 2004).
• Actual or threatened criminal prosecution, arrest, or other legal actions.footnote5_qY-SnGXPUKP3YkmvQ8BRck4VPanYLzbVuAJQza49mV0_s2YjIV01bjP45National Coalition on Black Civic Participation v. Wohl, 498 F. Supp. 3d 457, 465–66 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); United States v. North Carolina Republican Party, No. 5:92-cv-00161 (E.D.N.C. Feb. 27, 1992); United States v. McLeod, 385 F.2d 734, 747–50 (5th Cir. 1967).
• Actual or threatened dissemination of voters’ personal information.footnote6_Aawo4uQEcd5uLSBBvkjH2t1VBhxDKq3czt6p-HX0RiA_u2OzofFOTLvp6League of United Latin American Citizens – Richmond Region Council 4614 v. Pub. Interest Legal Found. (LULAC), No. 1:18-cv-00423, 2018 WL 3848404, at *4–10 (E.D. Va. Aug. 13, 2018); United States v. Nguyen, 673 F.3d 1259, 1264 (9th Cir. 2012).
• Phone and physical canvassing campaigns that interrogate individuals about their voting status and history.footnote7_WX3QPflcYy8Oo68fDYd—GAhjDnfw8v8dByy10Dgscc_nzi6O9fA6wfe7 Letter from U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division to Arizona State Senator Karen Fann (May 5, 2021), https://perma.cc/Q3WK-ENRK; see also U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Law Constraints on Post-Election “Audits”, 2021, 5–7, https://perma.cc/S39Q-WAQ6.
• Baseless voter challenges, particularly those that target voters and communities of color.footnote8_awTMPoRitAFB1PmT24mvAsGdL3V60uIqQU5HfZ6SwbE_xwshpxJbcGpT8Democratic National Committee v. Republican National Committee, No. 81–03876, 2016 WL 6584915, at *2–4 (D.N.J. Nov. 5, 2016).