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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1973j. Civil and criminal sanctions
(a) Depriving or attempting to deprive persons of secured rights
Whoever shall deprive or attempt to deprive any person of any
right secured by section 1973, 1973a, 1973b, 1973c, 1973e, or 1973h
of this title or shall violate section 1973i(a) of this title,
shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than
five years, or both.
(b) Destroying, defacing, mutilating, or altering ballots or
official voting records
Whoever, within a year following an election in a political
subdivision in which an examiner has been appointed (1) destroys,
defaces, mutilates, or otherwise alters the marking of a paper
ballot which has been cast in such election, or (2) alters any
official record of voting in such election tabulated from a voting
machine or otherwise, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or
imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(c) Conspiring to violate or interfere with secured rights
Whoever conspires to violate the provisions of subsection (a) or
(b) of this section, or interferes with any right secured by
section 1973, 1973a, 1973b, 1973c, 1973e, 1973h, or 1973i(a) of
this title shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not
more than five years, or both.
(d) Civil action by Attorney General for preventive relief;
injunctive and other relief
Whenever any person has engaged or there are reasonable grounds
to believe that any person is about to engage in any act or
practice prohibited by section 1973, 1973a, 1973b, 1973c, 1973e,
1973h, 1973i, or subsection (b) of this section, the Attorney
General may institute for the United States, or in the name of the
United States, an action for preventive relief, including an
application for a temporary or permanent injunction, restraining
order, or other order, and including an order directed to the State
and State or local election officials to require them (1) to permit
persons listed under subchapters I-A to I-C of this chapter to vote
and (2) to count such votes.
(e) Proceeding by Attorney General to enforce the counting of
ballots of registered and eligible persons who are prevented from
voting
Whenever in any political subdivision in which there are
examiners appointed pursuant to subchapters I-A to I-C of this
chapter any persons allege to such an examiner within forty-eight
hours after the closing of the polls that notwithstanding (1) their
listing under subchapters I-A to I-C of this chapter or
registration by an appropriate election official and (2) their
eligibility to vote, they have not been permitted to vote in such
election, the examiner shall forthwith notify the Attorney General
if such allegations in his opinion appear to be well founded. Upon
receipt of such notification, the Attorney General may forthwith
file with the district court an application for an order providing
for the marking, casting, and counting of the ballots of such
persons and requiring the inclusion of their votes in the total
vote before the results of such election shall be deemed final and
any force or effect given thereto. The district court shall hear
and determine such matters immediately after the filing of such
application. The remedy provided in this subsection shall not
preclude any remedy available under State or Federal law.
(f) Jurisdiction of district courts; exhaustion of administrative
or other remedies unnecessary
The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction
of proceedings instituted pursuant to this section and shall
exercise the same without regard to whether a person asserting
rights under the provisions of subchapters I-A to I-C of this
chapter shall have exhausted any administrative or other remedies
that may be provided by law.
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