I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5334 

To require all candidates for election for the office of Member of the House 

of Representatives to run in a single open primary regardless of political 

party preference, to limit the ensuing general election for such office 

to the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in such 

single open primary, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. DELANEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on 

Oversight and Government Reform and the Judiciary, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require all candidates for election for the office of Member of the House of Representatives to run in a single 

open primary regardless of political party preference, 

to limit the ensuing general election for such office to 

the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes 

in such single open primary, and for other purposes. 

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

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Our Democracy 

3 Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENT5 ATIVES THROUGH OPEN PRIMARIES. 

6 (a) RULES FOR ELECTION OF HOUSE MEMBERS.— 

7 A candidate for election for the office of Member of the 

8 House of Representatives shall be elected to such office 

9 pursuant to the following elections held by the State in 

10 which the candidate seeks election: 

11 (1) A single open primary election for such of12 fice held in accordance with subsection (b). 

13 (2) A single general election for such office held 

14 in accordance with subsection (c). 

15 (b) OPEN PRIMARIES.—Each State shall hold a sin16 gle open primary election for each office of Member of the 

17 House of Representatives in the State under which— 

18 (1) each candidate for such office, regardless of 

19 the candidate’s political party preference, shall ap20 pear on a single ballot; and 

21 (2) each voter in the State who is eligible to 

22 vote in elections for Federal office in the Congres23 sional district involved may cast a ballot in the elec24 tion, regardless of the voter’s political party pref25 erence. 

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1 (c) GENERAL ELECTION.—Each State shall hold a 

2 general election for each office of Member of the House 

3 of Representatives in the State under which the 2 can4 didates receiving the greatest number of votes in the single 

5 open primary election for such office (as described in sub6 section (b)), without regard to the political party pref7 erence of such candidates, shall be the only candidates ap8 pearing on the ballot. 

9 SEC. 3. ABILITY OF CANDIDATES TO DISCLOSE POLITICAL 

10 PARTY PREFERENCES. 

11 (a) OPTION OF CANDIDATES TO DECLARE POLIT12 ICAL PARTY PREFERENCE.—At the time a candidate for 

13 the office of Member of the House of Representatives files 

14 to run for such office, the candidate shall have the option 

15 of declaring a political party preference, and the pref16 erence chosen (if any) shall accompany the candidate’s 

17 name on the ballot for the election for such office. 

18 (b) DESIGNATION FOR CANDIDATES NOT DECLAR19 ING PREFERENCE.—If a candidate does not declare a po20 litical party preference under subsection (a), the designa21 tion ‘‘No Party Preference’’ shall accompany the can22 didate’s name on the ballot for the election for such office. 

23 (c) NO PARTY ENDORSEMENT IMPLIED.—The selec24 tion of a party preference by a candidate under subsection 

25 (a) shall not constitute or imply endorsement of the canmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 didate by the party designated, and no candidate in a gen2 eral election shall be deemed the official candidate of any 

3 party by virtue of his or her selection in the primary. 

4 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 

5 Nothing in this Act shall restrict the right of individ6 uals to join or organize into political parties or in any way 

7 restrict the right of private association of political parties. 

8 Nothing in this Act shall restrict a party’s right to con9 tribute to, endorse, or otherwise support a candidate for 

10 the office of Member of the House of Representatives. A 

11 political party may establish such procedures as it sees 

12 fit to endorse or support candidates or otherwise partici13 pate in all elections, and may informally designate can14 didates for election to such an office at a party convention 

15 or by whatever lawful mechanism the party may choose, 

16 other than pursuant to a primary election held by a State. 

17 A political party may also adopt such rules as it sees fit 

18 for the selection of party officials (including central com19 mittee members, presidential electors, and party officers), 

20 including rules restricting participation in elections for 

21 party officials to those who disclose a preference for that 

22 party at the time of registering to vote. 

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1 SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MANNER 

2 AS LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR PURPOSES 

3 OF FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of any law relating 

5 to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first 

6 Monday in November in 2016 and each even-numbered 

7 year thereafter shall be treated in the same manner as 

8 a legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 

9 5, United States Code. 

10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TREATMENT

11 OF DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that private employers in the United States should 

13 give their employees a day off on the Tuesday next after 

14 the first Monday in November in 2016 and each even15 numbered year thereafter to enable the employees to cast 

16 votes in the elections held on that day. 

17 SEC. 6. STUDY OF NATIONAL STANDARDS AND CRITERIA 

18 FOR CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING. 

19 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

20 a study of the feasibility and desirability of enacting na21 tional standards and criteria for Congressional redis22 tricting. 

23 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp25 troller General shall submit a report to Congress on the 

26 study conducted under subsection (a). 

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1 SEC. 7. MEMBER DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep3 resentatives’’ included a Delegate or Resident Commis4 sioner to the Congress. 

5 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 Except as provided in sections 5(a) and 6(b), this Act 

7 shall apply with respect to elections occurring during 2016 

8 or any succeeding year. 

Æ 

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