Election interference laws are the federal and state statutes that criminalize efforts to corrupt how Americans vote, register, or have their ballots counted. They cover voter intimidation, vote buying, illegal campaign contributions, tampering with voting equipment, hacking election systems, and coordinated deception about the voting process. Penalties under federal law alone run from a one-year misdemeanor for intimidating a voter to ten years for conspiring to deprive people of their voting rights, with life imprisonment available when a conspiracy causes a death.
Voter Intimidation and Conspiracy Against Rights
The core federal offense against voters is 18 U.S.C. § 594, which makes it a crime to intimidate, threaten, or coerce anyone to interfere with their right to vote or to pressure them into voting for a particular candidate in a federal election. A conviction carries up to one year in prison, a fine, or both.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 594 – Intimidation of Voters
Intimidation does not require violence. Creating a threatening atmosphere at a polling place, spreading false rumors about consequences for voting, or singling out specific communities for harassment all fall within the statute. The protection extends to election workers and volunteers, not just voters.
When two or more people work together, the exposure jumps. Under 18 U.S.C. § 241, conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate anyone in the free exercise of a constitutional right carries up to ten years. If someone dies as a result of the conspiracy, the sentence can reach life imprisonment or the death penalty.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 241 – Conspiracy Against Rights Section 241 is the statute prosecutors most often reach for when interference is organized rather than a lone act.
Vote Buying
Paying someone to vote, to stay home, or to vote a particular way is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 597, and it applies on both sides of the transaction. Offering the payment and accepting it are each punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine, rising to two years for a willful violation.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 597 – Expenditures to Influence Voting The “expenditure” does not have to be cash; anything of value counts.
Illegal Campaign Money
Campaign finance crimes are where the biggest civil fines, and some of the longest sentences, tend to appear.
Foreign Money
Foreign nationals may not contribute money or anything of value to any federal, state, or local election, and no one may solicit or accept such a contribution. The prohibition covers direct donations, contributions to party committees, and spending on electioneering communications.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30121 – Contributions and Donations by Foreign Nationals
Straw Donors and Contribution Limits
For the 2025–2026 cycle, an individual may contribute up to $3,500 per election to a federal candidate; the limit is adjusted for inflation in odd-numbered years.5Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026 Making a contribution in someone else’s name to evade the limit is separately illegal. These “straw donor” arrangements draw the harshest civil penalties in the campaign finance system.
Personal Use of Campaign Funds
Campaign contributions cannot be converted to personal use. The statute defines personal use as any expense that would exist whether or not the candidate were running, and it lists mortgage payments, clothing, vacations, gym memberships, tuition, and non-campaign entertainment as examples.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30114 – Use of Contributed Amounts for Certain Purposes
Tampering with Ballots and Voting Systems
Damaging voting machines, altering or destroying ballots, and corrupting the work of election officials all carry federal criminal liability. When the attack is digital, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1030, unauthorized access to a government computer, which includes a state voter registration database, can bring up to one year for a first offense. When the intrusion furthers another crime or involves information worth more than $5,000, the maximum rises to five years. Repeat offenders face up to ten.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers
Disinformation About How to Vote
Deliberately telling voters the wrong polling location, a fake ID requirement, or a bogus deadline is one of the more common forms of suppression, pushed through text messages, social media, and robocalls. No single federal statute criminalizes this conduct as a standalone offense. Prosecutors instead reach for 18 U.S.C. § 241 when the deception is part of a coordinated scheme to deprive people of their voting rights.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 241 – Conspiracy Against Rights That works, but it requires proving a conspiracy rather than proving someone simply lied about polling hours.
Congress has repeatedly considered closing the gap. The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act (H.R. 4894), introduced in August 2025, would specifically criminalize knowingly spreading false information about the time, place, or manner of voting and would require the Department of Justice to take corrective action when disinformation is reported. As of early 2026 it has not been enacted. Many states have passed their own laws targeting deceptive election practices.
AI-Generated Content and Deepfakes
Voice-cloning and image-generation tools have opened a new front. The Federal Communications Commission took the first significant federal action in February 2024, ruling that AI-generated voices in robocalls qualify as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Unsolicited political robocalls using cloned or AI-generated voices are therefore illegal, and violators face $500 per call, tripled to $1,500 per call for knowing violations.8Federal Communications Commission. FCC Makes AI-Generated Voices in Robocalls Illegal
Outside of robocalls, federal law has been slow to address AI-generated election content. States have moved faster. As of 2024, more than three dozen states had introduced bills regulating political deepfakes, with several enacting disclosure requirements or bans on deceptive AI content near elections. The rules a campaign faces now depend heavily on where it operates.
Who Investigates and Prosecutes
Criminal enforcement of federal election law belongs to the Department of Justice and the FBI. The DOJ’s Public Integrity Section and local U.S. Attorney’s offices handle voter fraud, intimidation, conspiracy against voting rights, and criminal campaign finance cases.
The Federal Election Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the civil side of federal campaign finance law.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30106 – Federal Election Commission It investigates complaints, conducts audits, negotiates settlements, and can go to court for injunctions and civil penalties when conciliation fails. Criminal referrals go to the DOJ.
Penalties at a Glance
Federal criminal maximums by offense:
- Voter intimidation, 18 U.S.C. § 594: up to one year in prison and a fine.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 594 – Intimidation of Voters
- Conspiracy against voting rights, 18 U.S.C. § 241: up to ten years; up to life if a death results.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 241 – Conspiracy Against Rights
- Vote buying, 18 U.S.C. § 597: up to one year, or two years for willful violations.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 597 – Expenditures to Influence Voting
- Hacking election systems, 18 U.S.C. § 1030: up to one year for a first offense against a government computer, up to five years with aggravating factors, up to ten for repeat offenders.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers
On the civil side, the FEC can impose penalties up to $5,000 or the amount of the illegal contribution or expenditure, whichever is greater. Knowing and willful violations carry penalties up to $10,000 or double the amount involved. Straw donor violations are punished more harshly: the minimum is triple the amount involved, and the maximum reaches $50,000 or ten times the amount involved, whichever is greater.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 U.S. Code 30109 – Enforcement
State penalties for election crimes vary widely, from misdemeanors carrying months in county jail to felonies with sentences measured in years.
Losing the Right to Vote
A federal felony conviction for an election crime can cost the offender their own vote. Most states restrict voting rights after a felony conviction at least during incarceration, and some extend the restriction through probation, parole, or indefinitely. For a defendant weighing a plea or a trial, that collateral consequence is real, and it applies even though the underlying offense is itself an election crime.