28 U.S.C. § 1344
Section 1344 · Election disputes
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 29 court decisions — leading case Powell v. McCormack (1969)
Most recently applied in PG&E Corp. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n (In re PG&E Corp.) (June 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action to recover possession of any office, except that of elector of President or Vice President, United States Senator, Representative in or delegate to Congress, or member of a state legislature, authorized by law to be commenced, where in it appears that the sole question touching the title to office arises out of denial of the right to vote, to any citizen offering to vote, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
The jurisdiction under this section shall extend only so far as to determine the rights of the parties to office by reason of the denial of the right, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and secured by any law, to enforce the right of citizens of the United States to vote in all the States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §41(15) (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §24, par. 15, 36 Stat. 1092).
Words “civil action” were substituted for “suits,” in view of Rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Words “United States Senator” were added, as no reason appears for including Representatives and excluding Senators. Moreover, the Seventeenth amendment, providing for the popular election of Senators, was adopted after the passage of the 1911 law on which this section is based.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Cross References
Amount in controversy immaterial in action under this section, see Historical and Revision Notes under section 1331 of this title.
Diversity of citizenship immaterial in action under this section, see Historical and Revision Notes under section 1332 of this title.
Jurisdiction of action for damages for injuries in voting, see section 1357 of this title.