unintimidated ballot and to have his ballot honestly counted. So long
as the exercise of this power and the enjoyment of this right are
common and equal, practically as well as formally, submission to the
results of the suffrage will be accorded loyally and cheerfully, and
all the departments of Government will feel the true vigor of the
popular will thus expressed.

Two provisions of the Constitution authorize legislation by Congress
for the regulation of the Congressional elections.

Section 4 of Article I of the Constitution declares--

The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time,
by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the
places of choosing Senators.

The fifteenth amendment of the Constitution is as follows:

SEC. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.

SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.

The Supreme Court has held that this amendment invests the citizens of
the United States with a new constitutional right which is within
the protecting power of Congress. That right the court declares to
be exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective
franchise on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude. The power of Congress to protect this right by appropriate
legislation is expressly affirmed by the court.

National legislation to provide safeguards for free and honest
elections is necessary, as experience has shown, not only to secure
the right to vote to the enfranchised race at the South, but also to
prevent fraudulent voting in the large cities of the North. Congress
has therefore exercised the power conferred by the Constitution, and
has enacted certain laws to prevent discriminations on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and to punish fraud,
violence, and intimidation at Federal elections. Attention is called
to the following sections of the Revised Statutes of the United
States, viz:

Section 2004, which guarantees to all citizens the right to vote,
without distinction on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.

Sections 2005 and 2006, which guarantee to al