—the Supreme Court explained that the basis for these statutes was "the [constitutional] power... of [C] ongress to make such provisions as are necessary to secure the fair and honest conduct of an election at which a member of congress is elected... cannot be questioned."

"As the laws of Congress are only valid when they are within the constitutional power of that body, the validity of the statute under which a prisoner is held in custody may be inquired. into under a writ of habeas corpus as affecting the jurisdiction of the court which ordered his imprisonment. And if there be want of power apparent on the face of the record of his …

—the Supreme Court held that Congress had authority under the Constitution' s Necessary and Proper Clause to regulate any activity during a mixed federal/state election that exposed the federal election to potential harm, whether that harm materialized or not.

The Court has generally construed Congress's exclusive authority under the Elections Clause expansively.

—made for the security and protection of elections held for representatives or delegates in congress, and do not impair or restrict the power of the state to punish fraudulent voting in the choice of its electors.

The inquiry in such case is not whether the complaint contains such specific allegations as would make it good on demurrer or motion in arrest, but whether it describes a class of offenses of which the court has jurisdiction and alleges the respondent to be guilty.

Because deemed appropriate in order effectively to regulate the manner of holding general elections, this court has upheld federal statutes providing for supervisors and prohibiting interference with them, declaring criminal failure by election officers to perform duties imposed by the state and denouncing conspiracies to prevent voters from freely casting their ballots or …

—even if the state has no such power in regard to votes for representatives in congress, it clearly has such power in regard to votes for presidential electors, unaffected by anything in the constitution and laws of the United States; and the including, in one indictment and sentence, of illegal voting, both for a representative in congress and for presidential electors, does not …

As the writ has evolved into an instrument that now demands not only conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction

"The statement of the Court principally relied on by appellant is as follows:" ** But if it be found that the court had no jurisdiction to try the petitioner, or that in its proceedings his constitutional rights have been denied, the remedy of habeas corpus is available.