52 U.S.C. § 10308

Civil and criminal sanctions

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(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 10301, 10302, 10303, 10304, or 10306 of this title or shall violate section 10307(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 observer has been assigned (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.

Whoever conspires to violate the provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section, or interferes with any right secured by section 10301, 10302, 10303, 10304, 10306, or 10307(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 10301, 10302, 10303, 10304, 10306, or 10307 of this title, section 1973e of title 42,11 See References in Text note below. 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 chapters 103 to 107 of this title 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 observers appointed pursuant to chapters 103 to 107 of this title any persons allege to such an observer within forty-eight hours after the closing of the polls that notwithstanding (1) their listing under chapters 103 to 107 of this title or registration by an appropriate election official and (2) their eligibility to vote, they have not been permitted to vote in such election, the observer 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 chapters 103 to 107 of this title shall have exhausted any administrative or other remedies that may be provided by law.

(Pub. L. 89–110, title I, § 12, Aug. 6, 1965, 79 Stat. 443; Pub. L. 90–284, title I, § 103(c), Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 75; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 91–285, § 2, June 22, 1970, 84 Stat. 314; Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(d)(3), (4), (e)(2), July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 580.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 1973e of title 42, referred to in subsec. (d), was repealed by Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(c), July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 580.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 1973j of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section. Some section numbers referenced in amendment notes below reflect the classification of such sections prior to their editorial reclassification to this title.

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(e)(2), struck out “1973e,” after “1973c,”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(d)(3), substituted “an observer has been assigned” for “an examiner has been appointed”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(e)(2), struck out “1973e,” after “1973c,”.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–246, § 3(d)(4), substituted “observers” for “examiners” and substituted “observer” for “examiner” in two places.

1968—Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 90–284 struck out reference to violation of section 1973i(b) of this title.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 21 cases (17 in the last 5 years), 2015–2025 · leading case: AR State Conf. NAACP v. AR Bd. of Apportionment, 86 F.4th 1204 (8th Cir. 2023).

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AR State Conf. NAACP v. AR Bd. of Apportionment, 86 F.4th 1204 (8th Cir. 2023). · cites it 2× “After reviewing the text, history, and structure of the Voting Rights Act, the district court concluded that private parties cannot enforce § 2.”

Alabama State Conf. of the Nat'l Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. State of Alabama, 949 F.3d 647 (11th Cir. 2020). “52 U.S.C. § 10308 (d). 6 Additionally, section 3 also permits “an aggrieved person .”

York v. City of St. Gabriel, 89 F. Supp. 3d 843 (M.D. La. 2015). “JURISDICTION The Court’s jurisdiction over this matter is proper pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 10308 (f) (formerly 42 U.S.C.”

Arkansas State Conf. NAACP v. Arkansas Bd. of Apportionment (E.D. Ark. 2022). · cites it 7× “§§ 10302 , 10310, with 52 U.S.C. § 10308 . 83 Gonzaga Univ., 536 U.”

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Michael Howe, 137 F.4th 710 (8th Cir. 2025). · cites it 2× “52 U.S.C. § 10308 (d). Accordingly, private plaintiffs maintained the ability to bring a § 1983 lawsuit to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, while the Attorney General was invested with authority under § 12 of the Act to enforce the rights guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment.”

Alabama State Conf. of the NAACP v. Alabama, 264 F. Supp. 3d 1280 (M.D. Ala. 2017). “One argument, which Defendants briefly raise (Doc. # 17, at 51-52), is that the statute could function just fine if its enforcement were restricted to actions brought by the Attorney General, which are expressly authorized in the VRA’s enforcement provision, 52 U.”

Michigan Welfare Rights Org. v. Trump (D.D.C. 2022). · cites it 3× “Section 11(b) of the VRA Creates a Private Right of Action The RNC argues that “under the approach that this Court applies today, § 11(b) plainly lacks a private right of action.”

Coca v. Dodge City, Kansas, City of (D. Kan. 2023). · cites it 2× “28 Relying on the lack of language supporting a private right of action and the Supreme Court’s recent trend toward disavowing judicially recognized rights of action, the court determined that Section 2 did not create a private right of action.”

Aquino v. Hazleton Area Sch. Dist. (M.D. Penn. 2024). · cites it 2× “§ 10302 (a); see also 52 U.S.C. § 10308 (f); 52 U.S.C. § 10310 (e).”

Schilling v. Mallek (W.D. Va. 2022). · cites it 2× “Second, the statute expressly delegates enforcement authority to the Attorney General, see 52 U.S.C. § 10308 (d), while making no mention of a private right of action.”

Navajo Nation Human Rights Comm'n v. San Juan Cnty., 215 F. Supp. 3d 1201 (D. Utah 2016). “§§ 1333 , 1343(a)(4), and 52 U.S.C. § 10308 (f). STANDARD OF REVIEW Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs the issuance of preliminary injunctions.”

Moore v. Senate Majority PAC (N.D. Ala. 2021). “52 U.S.C. § 10308 . The VRA does not provide compensatory and punitive damages.”

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