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— — a o., ox more persona "to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or - t ~ i J crimina. law counterpart to 42 U.S.C, 1971. ‘The Act forbade two’ SA » intimidate any citizen ir the free exercise or enfeyment of any United states" or to "go in disguise on the highway, or on the !- premises of anather, with intent to prevent or hinder [such ‘citizen in) his free exercise or enjoyment” of any such right; or to "conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote" from voting for presi- dential electors or members of Congress. Justice Miller, ina ‘powerful opinion for the Court, sustained the conviction and held the statute valid. The opinion made it slear that the ri vote in fedéral elections is a privilege of national citizenship “derived from the Constitution. Congress therefore “can by law protect the act of voting, the place where it is done and the man who votes, from personal violence or intimidation, and the ‘election itseif from corruption of fraud." Nor does it matter that state and federal offices are elected in the same election. wo: The congressional powers are not “annulled because an election or state officers is heid at the same time and piace". 110 - U.S. at 660. The heart of the Yarbrough decision is the Court's emphasis on the transcendent interest of the federal governnent> ’ ahe violence and intimidation to which the Negro was subjected ware important becauea/ie alloyed the purity of the federal political process, The federal government “must have the power to protect the elections on which ite existence depends from violence and 19 U.s, at 658. This implied power arises out of --§ F- Lape iets emai Ter ees