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, order, 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 offense 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 not
exceeding $5,000 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_, That
nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent any
officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines from exercising the right of
suffrage in any 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 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