§2H2.1 Obstructing an Election or Registration: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
None of the 14 people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 under guideline §2H2.1, "Obstructing an Election or Registration," received a prison term. 11 of the 14 (79%) received probation only. All 14 pleaded guilty, and 12 of the 14 sentences (86%) were within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2H2.1 Obstructing an Election or Registration › §2H2.1: FY2021
In brief: None of the 14 people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 under guideline §2H2.1, "Obstructing an Election or Registration," received a prison term. 11 of the 14 (79%) received probation only. All 14 pleaded guilty, and 12 of the 14 sentences (86%) were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 14 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
No Prison Terms in Fiscal Year 2021
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 14 people in fiscal year 2021 whose primary guideline was §2H2.1. 0 of the 14 (0%) received a prison term, and 11 (79%) received probation only.
Because no one was sent to prison, there is no median prison term for the year, and the yearly table shows n/a. The sheet does not break down what the remaining 3 people received.
Across all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 41% of the 71 people under this guideline were sent to prison. The median prison term for those years is 7 months.
Fines Instead of Prison
A fine was ordered for 8 of the 14 people (57%). Restitution was ordered for 0 people. The records for this year do not show a supervised release figure.
The Commission reports fines separately from prison and probation.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
12 sentences (86%) were within the guideline range, and 2 (14%) were below the range at the government's request. None were below it without a government request, and none were above it.
The within-range share was higher than the 72% for all years under this guideline. It was also higher than the 43% for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021.
A Guilty Plea in Every Case
14 of the 14 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. 93% of the pleas had a written plea agreement, and 7% were straight pleas.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1 of the 14 people (7%). No one in the group was sent to prison, and the records do not explain how that fits.
93% of the 14 were in the lowest criminal history category, Category I, and 0% were in the highest, Category VI.
Fiscal Year 2021 Among Other Years and All Guidelines
The table shows fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022 with no median, shown as n/a. Groups in the table range from 3 to 17 people, and the 14 people in fiscal year 2021 are the second-largest group, after the 17 people in fiscal year 2019.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2021, 57,287 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 29 months. The Commission files the §2H2.1 cases under the offense type Individual Rights. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 1.2 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2017 | 4 | 21 months | 1 of 4 |
| 2018 | 6 | 11 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2019 | 17 | 1.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 4 | 22 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2021 | 14 | n/a | 100% |
| 2022 | 3 | n/a | 3 of 3 |
| 2023 | 8 | 8 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2024 | 4 | 7 months | 2 of 4 |
| 2025 | 8 | 16.5 months | 8 of 8 |
What Cannot Be Read From This Data
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports federal numbers on their own.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not describe the facts of any case, and one year with 14 people does not show a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2H2.1 (14), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2H2.1 Obstructing an Election or Registration: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.