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a ; ‘citizen in] his free exercise or enjoyment" of any such right; or “ex more persons “to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or - 1 ~~ i wa crimina. law counterpart to 42 U.S.C. 1971. ‘The Act forbade two’ “A intimidate any citizen i: the free exercise or enybyment of any right o: privilege secured to by the Constitution or laws of the united states" or to "go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder [suth ‘ - to "conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote" from voting for presi- . 4 . aan - dential electors or members of Congress. Justice Miller, in a ‘powerful opinion for the Court, sustained the conviction and held 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 itself from corruption of fraud." Mor does it matter that state and federal offices are elected in the same election. The congressional powers are not “annulled because an election for state officers is heid at the same time and place". 110 WS. at 660. The heart of the Yarbrough decision is the Court's emphasis on the transcendent interest of the federal government The violence and intimidation to which the Negro was subjected were important pecause/at alloyed the purity of the federal political process. The federal government “must have the power to protect the elections on which its existence depends from violence and’ governmental necessity. The Court said: 33 aeaeen a vere wunemepele a Neer amet