To enforce the guarantees of the first, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States by prohibiting certain devices used to deny the right to participate in certain elections.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Voter Freedom Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The rights of eligible citizens to seek election to 
        Congress, vote for candidates of their choice and associate for 
        the purpose of taking part in elections, including the right to 
        create and develop new political parties, are fundamental to a 
        democracy. The rights of citizens to participate in the 
        election process for members of Congress are set forth in 
        article I. The United States Supreme Court has held that the 
        states are powerless to discriminate against a class of 
        candidates for Congress. Cook v. Gralike, ____ US ____ 
        (decision of February 28, 2001). The United States Supreme 
        Court has also held that all voters must be treated equally. 
        Bush v. Gore, ____ US ____ (decision of December 12, 2000).
            (2) The voters of the various states sometimes elect 
        candidates to Congress who are neither nominees, nor members, 
        of the two major political parties. According to the Clerk of 
        the U.S. House of Representatives, voters have on at least 125 
        occasions elected someone to the U.S. House of Representatives 
        who was neither a Republican nor a Democrat. According to a 
        recent compilation, throughout the twentieth century, the 
        percentage of voters who have voted for minor party and 
        independent candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives 
        has averaged 3.7 percent. On November 7, 2000, it was 4.2 
        percent. Clearly, a substantial number of voters desire to vote 
        for candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives who are 
        minor party nominees and/or independent candidates. Such voters 
        have existed in fairly substantial numbers in every decade of 
        the twentieth century, and may be expected to exist in the 
        twenty-first century.
            (3) Some states have enacted election laws which require 
        minor party nominees, or independent candidates, for the U.S. 
        House of Representatives, to submit petitions signed by more 
        than 10,000 registered voters within a district. For example, 
        Georgia requires such candidates to not only pay a filing fee, 
        but to submit a petition signed by 5 percent of the number of 
        registered voters in the district. The signatures must be 
        notarized. By contrast, members of political parties which have 
        polled 20 percent for President of the United States throughout 
        the entire nation, or which have polled 20 percent for Governor 
        of Georgia, need not submit any petition signatures. No 
        candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia has 
        managed to comply with the 5 percent petition requirement since 
        1964. North Carolina requires an independent candidate for the 
        U.S. House of Representatives to submit a petition signed by 4 
        percent of the number of registered voters in the district. By 
        contrast, members of qualified political parties need not 
        submit any petitions in North Carolina to run for Congress. No 
        independent candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives has 
        ever qualified for the North Carolina ballot. South Carolina 
        requires an independent candidate for the U.S. House of 
        Representatives to submit a petition signed by 10,000 
        signatures. By contrast, members of qualified political parties 
        need not submit any petition signatures in order to run for 
        Congress. No independent candidate for the U.S. House of 
        Representatives has ever qualified for the South Carolina 
        ballot. California requires an independent candidate for the 
        U.S. House of Representatives to submit a petition signed by 3 
        percent of the number of registered voters in the district. By 
        contrast, members of qualified political parties only need to 
        submit 40 signatures in order to run for U.S. House of 
        Representatives.
            (4) Throughout all U.S. history, there are only four 
        individuals who have ever successfully overcome a signature 
        requirement greater than 10,000 signatures in order to gain a 
        place on a ballot for U.S. House of Representatives. They are 
        Frazier Reems, an independent member of the U.S. House of 
        Representatives from Ohio who had to collect 12,920 valid 
        signatures in the 9th district in 1954 in order to run for re-
        election; Jack Gargan, the Reform Party nominee for Florida's 
        5th district in 1998, who had to collect 12,141 valid 
        signatures; Steven Wheeler, an independent candidate in 
        California's 22nd district in 1996, who had to collect 10,191 
        valid signatures; and Steve Kelly, independent candidate for 
        Montana's At-Large seat in 1994, who had to collect 10,186 
        valid signatures.
            (5) Other states do not require independent candidates, or 
        the candidates of unqualified parties, to submit large numbers 
        of signatures in order to run for the U.S. House of 
        Representatives, and yet they do not suffer from a crowded 
        ballot. Florida no longer requires any signatures on a petition 
        for anyone to run for Congress, yet in 2000 there was no U.S. 
        House race in Florida with more than 4 candidates on the 
        ballot. Florida requires a filing fee instead of a petition for 
        ballot access for everyone. Hawaii and Tennessee only require 
        25 signatures for anyone to run for Congress. Washington does 
        not require any signatures for members of qualified parties to 
        run for public office, and only requires 25 signatures from 
        other individuals to run for the United States House of 
        Representatives. New Jersey only requires 100 signatures for 
        any individual to run for United States House of 
        Representatives as an independent, or 200 signatures to run in 
        a party primary. It is clear from the experience of such states 
        that no state needs to require as many as 10,000 or 15,000 
        signatures for candidates to run for the House in order to keep 
        the ballot uncluttered.
            (6) Some states have enacted laws which require new 
        political parties, or independent candidates, to file a 
        substantial number of petitions as much as ten months or more 
        before a general election. Illinois requires independent 
        candidates for Congress to file a petition in December of the 
        year before the general election. Such petitions must be signed 
        by 5 percent of the last vote cast for the seat they are 
        seeking. Although members of qualified parties must also submit 
        petitions by the same early date, members of qualified parties 
        only need one-tenth as many signatures. For mid-term election 
        years, Ohio requires new political parties to submit a petition 
        equal to 1 percent of the last vote cast, by January. In 
        presidential election years, Ohio requires such a petition by 
        November of the year before the election. California requires a 
        new political party to have registered members equal to 1 
        percent of the last vote cast by October of the year before an 
        election. Mississippi requires independent candidates for 
        Congress to file a petition by January of an election year.
            (7) Some states print partisan ballot labels on the general 
        election ballot for some candidates for Congress, yet refuse to 
        print such labels for other candidates for Congress. Virginia 
        prints party labels on the ballot if the candidate is the 
        nominee of a party which polled 10 percent of the statewide 
        vote at a previous election. Other candidates must be labelled 
        ``independent'', whether they are the nominees of a minor or 
        new party or whether they really are independents. Louisiana 
        prints party labels for candidates who are members of a party 
        that has registration membership of 5 percent, or which polled 
        5 percent for president at the last election. Other candidates 
        may not have any partisan label printed on the ballot next to 
        their names, not even the term ``independent''.
            (8) The establishment of fair and uniform national 
        standards for access to the ballot in elections for the U.S. 
        House of Representatives would remove barriers to the 
        participation of citizens in the electoral process and thereby 
        facilitate such participation and maximize the rights 
        identified in this subsection.
            (9) The Congress has authority, under the provisions of the 
        Constitution of the United States in sections 4 and 8 of 
        article I, to protect and promote the exercise of the rights 
        identified in this subsection.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish fair and uniform standards regulating 
        access to the ballot by eligible citizens who desire to seek 
        election to the U.S. House of Representatives and political 
        parties, bodies and groups which desire to take part in 
        elections to the U.S. House of Representatives; and
            (2) to maximize the participation of eligible citizens in 
        elections for Federal office.

SEC. 3. BALLOT ACCESS RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--An individual shall have the right to be placed as 
a candidate on, and to have such individual's political party, body, or 
group affiliation in connection with such candidacy placed on, a ballot 
or similar voting materials to be used in a Congressional election, 
if--
            (1) such individual presents a petition stating in 
        substance that its signers desire such individual's name and 
        political party, body or group affiliation, if any, to be 
        placed on the ballot or other similar voting materials to be 
        used in the election with respect to which such rights are to 
        be exercised;
            (2) such petition has at least 1,000 signatures of persons 
        who are registered to vote in the district, or, if the State in 
        which the district is located does not provide for voter 
        registration, such petition must bear the signatures of at 
        least 1,000 persons who are eligible to vote in that State and 
        that district;
            (3) with respect to an election the date of which was fixed 
        345 or more days in advance, such petition was circulated 
        during a period beginning on the 345th day and ending on the 
        75th day before the date of the election; and
            (4) with respect to an election the date of which was fixed 
        less than 345 days in advance, such petition was circulated 
        during a period established by the State holding the election, 
        or, if no such period was established, during a period 
        beginning on the day after the date the election was scheduled 
        and ending on the thirtieth day before the date of the 
        election.
    (b) Savings Provision.--Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect 
to any State that provides by law for greater ballot access rights than 
the ballot access rights provided for under such subsection.

SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

     The Attorney General shall make rules to carry out this Act.

SEC. 5. GENERAL DEFINITIONS.

     As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``Congressional election'' means a general or 
        special election for the office of Representative in, or 
        Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress;
            (2) the term ``State'' means a State of the United States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
        any other territory or possession of the United States;
            (3) the term ``individual'' means an individual who has the 
        qualifications required by law of a person who holds the office 
        for which such individual seeks to be a candidate;
            (4) the term ``petition'' includes a petition which 
        conforms to section 3(a)(1) and upon which signers' addresses 
        and/or printed names are required to be placed;
            (5) the term ``signer'' means a person whose signature 
        appears on a petition and who can be identified as a person 
        qualified to vote for an individual for whom the petition is 
        circulated, and includes a person who requests another to sign 
        a petition on his or her behalf at the time when, and at the 
        place where, the request is made;
            (6) the term ``signature'' includes the incomplete name of 
        a signer, the name of a signer containing abbreviations such as 
        first or middle initial, and the name of a signer preceded or 
        followed by titles such as ``Mr.'', ``Ms.'', ``Dr.'', ``Jr.'', 
        or ``III''; and
            (7) the term ``address'' means the address which a signer 
        uses for purposes of registration and voting.

Summary: Voter Freedom Act of 2003 - Declares that an individual shall have the right to be placed as a candidate on, and to have his or her political party, body, or group affiliation in connection with such candidacy placed on, a ballot or similar voting materials to be used in a congressional election, if certain conditions are met. Requires the individual to present a petition stating that its signers desire the individual's name and political party, body, or group affiliation, if any, to be placed on the ballot or other similar voting materials to be used in the election with respect to which such rights are to be exercised. Requires such petition to have at least 1,000 signatures of registered voters in the district, or, if the State in which the district is located does not provide for voter registration, to bear the signatures of at least 1,000 eligible voters in that State and district. Specifies the period during which a petition must be circulated.