Moulton Bill Would Let Voters Sue Federal Officials Over Rights Violations

SALEM, MA — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) has introduced legislation that would allow Americans to sue in federal court when federal officials violate their constitutional voting rights.

The proposal, called the Protecting American Voters’ Rights Act, is aimed at voting rights protected by the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Moulton said the measure responds to what he describes as a "gap" in federal law. Under current law, victims of constitutional violations can sue state and local officials under a federal civil rights statute used in many major cases. But that statute does not apply to federal officers, leaving people to rely instead on a court-created doctrine that the summary says the U.S. Supreme Court has narrowed in recent years.

Moulton's office said the new bill would amend the statute so it explicitly applies to people acting under "any federal election or election enforcement authority." Moulton said that change would allow the Trump Administration and any armed "election enforcement officers" to be held liable in the same way as state or local law enforcement officers when they violate a person's constitutional rights in the voting context.

"Right now, if a federal official violates someone's Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendment rights, victims have almost no legal recourse," saidMoulton. "This bill fixes that. The Trump Administration is not above the law—and if its officers break the law, they must be held accountable in court."

Moulton said the bill is written narrowly and applies only to voting rights and election law-related offenses.