Chapter LII. *to prevent Officers of the Army and Navy, and other Persons engaged in the military and naval Service of the United States, from interfering in Elections in the States.* Feb. 25, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,*
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Chap. LII.— An Act *to prevent Officers of the Army and Navy, and other Persons engaged in the military and naval Service of the United States, from interfering in Elections in the States.* Feb. 25, 1865. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That it shall not be lawful for Interference in elections by certain officers prohibited.any military or naval officer of the United States, or other person engaged inthe civil, military, or naval service of the United States, to order, bring, keep, or have under his authority or control, any troops or armedmen at the place where any general or special election is held in any state of the United States of America, unless it shall be necessary to repel the armed enemies of the United States, or to keep the peace at the polls.
And that it shall not be lawful for any officer of the army or navy of the United States to prescribe or fix, or attempt to prescribe or fix, by proclamation, Qualifications of voters not to be prescribedorder, or otherwise, the qualifications of voters in any state of the United States of America, or in any manner to interfere with the freedom of any election in any state, or with the exercise of the free right of suffrage in any state of the United States. Any officer of the army or navy of the United States, or other person engaged in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, who violates this section of this act, shall, for every such offence, be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor, in any court of the United States having jurisdiction to hear, try, and determine cases of misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall Penalty for violation of this act.pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than three months, nor more than five years, at the discretion of the court trying the same; and any person convicted as aforesaid shall, moreover, be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust, under the government of the United States: *Provided,* Suffrages of officers, &c., not interfered withThat nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent any officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines, from exercising the right of suffrage inany election district to which he may belong, if otherwise qualified according to the laws of the state in which he shall offer to vote.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That any officer or person in the Interfering with elections, how punished.military or naval service of the United States, who shall order or advise, or who shall directly or indirectly, by force, threat, menace, intimidation, or otherwise, prevent or attempt to prevent any qualified voter of any state of the United States of America from freely exercising the right of suffrage at any general or special election in any state of the United States, or who shall in like manner compel, or attempt to compel, any officer of an election in any such state to receive a vote from a person not legally qualified to vote, or who shall impose or attempt to impose any rules or regulations for conducting such election different from those prescribed by law, or interfere in any manner with any officer of said election in the discharge of his duties, shall for any such offence be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor, in any court of the United States having jurisdiction to hear, try, and determine cases of misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not exceeding five thousand dollars, and suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court trying the same, and any person convicted as aforesaid shall, moreover, be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust, under the government of the United States.
Approved, February 25, 1865.