I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2026

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 7, 1999

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on House Administration

A BILL

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Freedom Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following

8 findings:
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1 (1) Voting participation in the United States is

2 lower than in any other advanced industrialized

3 democracy.

4 (2) The rights of eligible citizens to seek elec5 tion to office, vote for candidates of their choice and

6 associate for the purpose of taking part in elections,

7 including the right to create and develop new polit8 ical parties, are fundamental in a democracy. The

9 rights of citizens to participate in the election proc10 ess, provided in and derived from the first and four11 teenth amendments to the Constitution, have con12 sistently been promoted and protected by the Fed13 eral Government. These rights include the right to

14 cast an effective vote and the right to associate for

15 the advancement of political beliefs, which includes

16 the ‘‘constitutional right . . . to create and develop

17 new political parties.’’ Norman v. Reed, 502 U.S.

18 279, 112 S.Ct. 699 (1992). It is the duty of the

19 Federal Government to see that these rights are not

20 impaired in elections for Federal office.

21 (3) Certain restrictions on access to the ballot

22 impair the ability of citizens to exercise these rights

23 and have a direct and damaging effect on citizens’

24 participation in the electoral process.
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1 (4) Many States unduly restrict access to the

2 ballot by nonmajor party candidates and nonmajor

3 political parties by means of such devices as exces4 sive petition signature requirements, insufficient pe5 titioning periods, unconstitutionally early petition fil6 ing deadlines, petition signature distribution criteria,

7 and limitations on eligibility to circulate and sign pe8 titions.

9 (5) Many States require political parties to poll

10 an unduly high number of votes or to register an un11 duly high number of voters as a precondition for re12 maining on the ballot.

13 (6) In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled unconsti14 tutional an Ohio law requiring a nonmajor party

15 candidate for President to qualify for the general

16 election ballot earlier than major party candidates.

17 This Supreme Court decision, Anderson v.

18 Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983) has been followed

19 by many lower courts in challenges by nonmajor par20 ties and candidates to early petition filing deadlines.

21 See, e.g., Stoddard v. Quinn, 593 F. Supp. 300

22 (D.Me. 1984); Cripps v. Seneca County Board of

23 Elections, 629 F. Supp. 1335 (N.D.Oh. 1985); Lib24 ertarian Party of Nevada v. Swackhamer, 638 F.

25 Supp. 565 (D. Nev. 1986); Cromer v. State of South
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1 Carolina, 917 F.2d 819 (4th Cir. 1990); New Alli2 ance Party of Alabama v. Hand, 933 F. 2d 1568

3 (11th Cir. 1991).

4 (7) In 1996, 34 States required nonmajor party

5 candidates for President to qualify for the ballot be6 fore the second major party national convention (Ar7 izona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,

8 District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indi9 ana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachu10 setts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New

11 Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,

12 Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,

13 South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wash14 ington, West Virginia, and Wyoming). Twenty-six of

15 these States required nonmajor party candidates to

16 qualify before the first major party national conven17 tion (Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut

18 Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine,

19 Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mon20 tana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North

21 Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,

22 South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and West Vir23 ginia).

24 (8) Under present law, in 1996, nonmajor party

25 candidates for President were required to obtain at
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1 least 701,089 petition signatures to be listed on the

2 ballots of all 50 States and the District of Colum3 bia—28 times more signatures than the 25,500 re4 quired of Democratic Party candidates and 13 times

5 more signatures than the 54,250 required of Repub6 lican Party candidates. To be listed on the ballot in

7 all 50 States and the District of Columbia with a

8 party label, nonmajor party candidates for President

9 were required to obtain approximately 651,475 peti10 tion signatures and 89,186 registrants. Thirty-two

11 of the 41 States that hold Presidential primaries re12 quired no signatures of major party candidates for

13 President (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Con14 necticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky,

15 Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Min16 nesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hamp17 shire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota,

18 Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina,

19 South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wash20 ington, West Virginia, Wisconsin). Only three States

21 required no signatures of nonmajor party candidates

22 for President (Arkansas, Colorado, and Louisiana;

23 Colorado and Louisiana, however, required a $500

24 filing fee).
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1 (9) Under present law, the number of petition

2 signatures required by the States to list a major

3 party candidate for Senate on the ballot in 1996

4 ranged from zero to 15,000. The number of petition

5 signatures required to list a nonmajor party can6 didate for Senate ranged from zero to 196,788.

7 Thirty-one States required no signatures of major

8 party candidates for Senate (Alabama, Alaska, Ar9 kansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,

10 Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,

11 Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi,

12 Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hamp13 shire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Or14 egon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington,

15 West Virginia, Wyoming). Only one State required

16 no signatures of nonmajor party candidates for Sen17 ate, provided they were willing to be listed on the

18 ballot without a party label (Louisiana, although a

19 $600 filing fee was required, and to run with a

20 party label, a candidate was required to register

21 111,121 voters into his or her party).

22 (10) Under present law, the number of petition

23 signatures required by the States to list a major

24 party candidate for Congress on the ballot in 1996

25 ranged from zero to 2,000. The number of petition
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1 signatures required to list a nonmajor party can2 didate for Congress ranged from zero to 13,653.

3 Thirty-one States required no signatures of major

4 party candidates for Congress (Alabama, Alaska, Ar5 kansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,

6 Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,

7 Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mon8 tana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North

9 Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South

10 Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia,

11 Wyoming). Only one State required no signatures of

12 nonmajor party candidates for Congress, provided

13 they are willing to be listed on the ballot without a

14 party label (Louisiana, although a $600 filing fee

15 was required).

16 (11) Under present law, in 1996, eight States

17 required additional signatures to list a nonmajor

18 party candidate for President on the ballot with a

19 party label (Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Ne20 braska, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee). Thirteen

21 States required additional signatures to list a

22 nonmajor party candidate for Senate or Congress on

23 the ballot with a party label (Alabama, Arizona, Ar24 kansas, California, Idaho, Hawaii, Kansas, Lou25 isiana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Ten-
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1 nessee). Two of these States (Ohio and Tennessee)

2 required 5,000 signatures and 25 signatures, respec3 tively, to list a nonmajor party candidate for Presi4 dent or Senate on the ballot in 1996, but required

5 33,463 signatures and 37,179 signatures, respec6 tively, to list the candidate on the ballot with her or

7 his party label. One State (California) required a

8 nonmajor party to have 89,006 registrants in order

9 to have its candidate for President listed on the bal10 lot with a party label.

11 (12) Under present law, in 1996 one State

12 (California) required nonmajor party candidates for

13 President or Senate to obtain 147,238 signatures in

14 105 days, but required major party candidates for

15 Senate to obtain only 65 signatures in 105 days,

16 and required no signatures of major party can17 didates for President. Another State (Texas) re18 quired nonmajor party candidates for President or

19 Senate to obtain 43,963 signatures in 75 days, and

20 required no signatures of major party candidates for

21 President or Senate.

22 (13) Under present law, in 1996, seven States

23 required nonmajor party candidates for President or

24 Senate to collect a certain number or percentage of

25 their petition signatures in each congressional dis-
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1 trict or in a specified number of congressional dis2 tricts (Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hamp3 shire, New York, North Carolina, Virginia). Only

4 three of these States impose a like requirement on

5 major party candidates for President or Senate

6 (Michigan, New York, Virginia).

7 (14) Under present law, in 1996, 20 States re8 stricted the circulation of petitions for nonmajor

9 party candidates to residents of those States (Cali10 fornia, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia,

11 Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ne12 braska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,

13 Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West

14 Virginia, Wisconsin). Two States restricted the cir15 culation of petitions for nonmajor party candidates

16 to the county or congressional district where the

17 circulator lives (Kansas and Virginia).

18 (15) Under present law, in 1996, three States

19 prohibited people who voted in a primary election

20 from signing petitions for nonmajor party candidates

21 (New York, Texas, West Virginia). Twelve States re22 stricted the signing of petitions to people who indi23 cate intent to support or vote for the candidate or

24 party (California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indi25 ana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Caro-
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1 lina, Ohio, Oregon, Utah). Five of these 12 States

2 required no petitions of major party candidates

3 (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon,

4 Utah), and only one of the six remaining States re5 stricted the signing of petitions for major party can6 didates to people who indicate intent to support or

7 vote for the candidate or party (New Jersey).

8 (16) In one State (Georgia), no nonmajor party

9 candidate for the United States House of Represent10 atives has qualified for the ballot since that State’s

11 ballot access laws have been in effect.

12 (17) Restrictions on the ability of citizens to ex13 ercise the rights identified in this subsection have

14 disproportionately impaired participation in the elec15 toral process by various groups, including racial

16 minorities.

17 (18) The establishment of fair and uniform na18 tional standards for access to the ballot in elections

19 for Federal office would remove barriers to the par20 ticipation of citizens in the electoral process and

21 thereby facilitate such participation and maximize

22 the rights identified in this subsection.

23 (19) The Congress has authority, under the

24 provisions of the Constitution of the United States

25 in sections 4 and 8 of article I, section 1 of article
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1 II, article VI, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fif2 teenth amendments, and other provisions of the

3 Constitution of the United States, to protect and

4 promote the exercise of the rights identified in this

5 subsection.

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

7 (1) to establish fair and uniform standards reg8 ulating access to the ballot by eligible citizens who

9 desire to seek election to Federal office and political

10 parties, bodies, and groups which desire to take part

11 in elections for Federal office; and

12 (2) to maximize the participation of eligible citi13 zens in elections for Federal office.

14 SEC. 3. BALLOT ACCESS RIGHTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall have the right

16 to be placed as a candidate on, and to have such individ17 ual’s political party, body, or group affiliation in connec18 tion with such candidacy placed on, a ballot or similar vot19 ing materials to be used in a Federal election, if—

20 (1) such individual presents a petition stating

21 in substance that its signers desire such individual’s

22 name and political party, body or group affiliation,

23 if any, to be placed on the ballot or other similar

24 voting materials to be used in the Federal election

25 with respect to which such rights are to be exercised;
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1 (2) with respect to a Federal election for the of2 fice of President, Vice President, or Senator, such

3 petition has a number of signatures of persons quali4 fied to vote for such office equal to one-tenth of one

5 percent of the number of persons who voted in the

6 most recent previous Federal election for such office

7 in the State, or 1,000 signatures, whichever is

8 greater;

9 (3) with respect to a Federal election for the of10 fice of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident

11 Commissioner to, the Congress, such petition has a

12 number of signatures of persons qualified to vote for

13 such office equal to one-half of one percent of the

14 number of persons who voted in the most recent pre15 vious Federal election for such office, or, if there

16 was no previous Federal election for such office,

17 1,000 signatures;

18 (4) with respect to a Federal election the date

19 of which was fixed 345 or more days in advance,

20 such petition was circulated during a period begin21 ning on the 345th day and ending on the 75th day

22 before the date of the election; and

23 (5) with respect to a Federal election the date

24 of which was fixed less than 345 days in advance,

25 such petition was circulated during a period estab-
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1 lished by the State holding the election, or, if no

2 such period was established, during a period begin3 ning on the day after the date the election was

4 scheduled and ending on the tenth day before the

5 date of the election, provided, however, that the

6 number of signatures required under paragraph (2)

or (3) shall be reduced by 1 7 ⁄270 for each day less

8 than 270 in such period.

9 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—An individual shall have the

10 right to be placed as a candidate on, and to have such

11 individual’s political party, body, or group affiliation in

12 connection with such candidacy placed on, a ballot or simi13 lar voting materials to be used in a Federal election, with14 out having to satisfy any requirement relating to a petition

15 under subsection (a), if that or another individual, as a

16 candidate of that political party, body, or group, received

17 one percent of the votes cast in the most recent general

18 Federal election for President or Senator in the State.

19 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Subsections (a) and (b)

20 shall not apply with respect to any State that provides

21 by law for greater ballot access rights than the ballot ac22 cess rights provided for under such subsections.

23 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

24 The Attorney General shall make rules to carry out

25 this Act.
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1 SEC. 5. GENERAL DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘Federal election’’ means a gen4 eral or special election for the office of—

5 (A) President or Vice President;

6 (B) Senator; or

7 (C) Representative in, or Delegate or Resi8 dent Commissioner to, the Congress;

9 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means a State of the

10 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com11 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory

12 or possession of the United States;

13 (3) the term ‘‘individual’’ means an individual

14 who has the qualifications required by law of a per15 son who holds the office for which such individual

16 seeks to be a candidate;

17 (4) the term ‘‘petition’’ includes a petition

18 which conforms to section 3(a)(1) and upon which

19 signers’ addresses and/or printed names are required

20 to be placed;

21 (5) the term ‘‘signer’’ means a person whose

22 signature appears on a petition and who can be

23 identified as a person qualified to vote for an indi24 vidual for whom the petition is circulated, and in25 cludes a person who requests another to sign a peti-
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1 tion on his or her behalf at the time when, and at

2 the place where, the request is made;

3 (6) the term ‘‘signature’’ includes the incom4 plete name of a signer, the name of a signer con5 taining abbreviations such as first or middle initial,

6 and the name of a signer preceded or followed by ti7 tles such as ‘‘Mr.’’, ‘‘Ms.’’, ‘‘Dr.’’, ‘‘Jr.’’, or ‘‘III’’;

8 and

9 (7) the term ‘‘address’’ means the address

10 which a signer uses for purposes of registration and

11 voting.

Æ