Lincoln suspended habeas corpus because he thought he needed to suppress his political opposition. This allowed the military to arrest and imprison almost anyone who disagreed with Lincoln's war effort. Lincoln decided that this freedom was no longer necessary and ordered the military to enforce the suspension. Chief Justice Taney responded to Lincoln and stated in his opinion that the president did not have this power. Lincoln also suppressed free elections and enforced them through the use of military force. Members of the legislature suspected of having secessionist sympathies were arrested. The federal government had put up posters at polling stations to alert soldiers to any anti-war activists, so that soldiers could arrest them. Furthermore, the ballets were made in different colors, so that soldiers could throw away their votes for the Peace Party. People carrying Peace Party ballots were arrested on charges of tampering with ballots