I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3576
To provide that American Samoa hold a primary election when more than
2 eligible individuals file for candidacy to be elected to the office of
Delegate representing American Samoa in the United States House of
Representatives, and to provide that active duty members of the military
be able to fully participate in Federal elections in American Samoa.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 20, 2001
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To provide that American Samoa hold a primary election
when more than 2 eligible individuals file for candidacy
to be elected to the office of Delegate representing Amer-
ican Samoa in the United States House of Representa-
tives, and to provide that active duty members of the
military be able to fully pariticipate in Federal elections
in American Samoa.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) It is in the national interest that all citi-
zens, including active-duty service members, be al-
lowed to vote in Federal elections.
(2) Since 1977, active-duty service members
serving overseas or on the United States mainland
have been excluded from fully participating and vot-
ing in both general and runoff Federal elections in
American Samoa due to several factors, including
local law that requires active duty military members
to register in person, limited air and mail service be-
tween the U.S. mainland and American Samoa, and
delays in the preparation of new ballots in the case
of runoff elections.
(3) American Samoa law requiring uniformed
service voters to register to vote in person is con-
trary to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab-
sentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.).
(4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab-
sentee Voting Act has been in effect for over 15
years, and American Samoa has not addressed this
discrepancy between Federal and territorial law, de-
spite notice that the discrepancy exists.
(5) It is necessary to take additional action to
ensure that the votes of uniformed voters are count-
ed in Federal elections conducted in American
Samoa and that active duty service members (in-
cluding reservists called to active duty) do not need
to appear in person to register to vote.
(6) It is necessary to state that the Uniformed
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act super-
sedes American Samoa law and American Samoa
must comply with this Federal law.
(7) It is also in the national interest that, to
the extent possible, Members of the United States
House of Representatives and non-voting Delegates
be elected in the first week of November in even-
numbered years.
(8) Since 1980, when the first election for the
Congressional Delegate from American Samoa was
held, there have been several general elections at
which there was no final resolution of who was elect-
ed as the Delegate for the next Congress, and run-
off elections were required.
(9) When the outcome of the Delegate election
is not resolved until a runoff election is held, a final
determination of who the Delegate will be is not
made known until late November.
(10) A delayed outcome may place a newly
elected Delegate in a more junior position to other
Members of Congress elected on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday of November in an election
year.
(11) When more than 2 candidates file to run
for election for the office of Delegate, holding a pri-
mary election to reduce the number of candidates to
2 will greatly increase the likelihood that the general
election will produce a candidate who receives a ma-
jority of the votes cast.
SEC. 2. PRIMARY ELECTION REQUIRED.
Section 2(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide
that the Territory of American Samoa be represented by
a nonvoting Delegate to the United States House of Rep-
resentatives, and for other purposes’’, approved October
31, 1978 (48 U.S.C. 1732(a)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(2) In any general election year when 3 or more eli-
gible individuals file by the first Tuesday of July as can-
didates for the office of Delegate, a primary election shall
be held on the first Tuesday of August of that general
election year. If the primary election results in 1 candidate
receiving more than 50 percent of the votes cast, then that
candidate shall be the only candidate on the ballot for the
general election for Delegate that year. If the primary
election results in no candidate receiving more than 50
percent of the votes cast, then the 2 candidates receiving
the most votes cast shall be on the ballot for the general
election year. If there is a tie for the 2 candidates receiving
the most votes, the names of the 2 candidates shall be
listed on the ballot for that general election year.
‘‘(3) Candidates for the office of Delegate to the
United States House of Representatives must file their
candidacy not later than the first Tuesday of July each
year that a general election referred to in paragraph (1)
is scheduled to be held.’’.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 4 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide that
the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a non-
voting Delegate to the United States House of Represent-
atives, and for other purposes’’, approved October 31,
1978 (48 U.S.C. 1734), is amended by inserting ‘‘in a
general Federal election’’ after ‘‘ties between candidates’’.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect
on January 1, 2003.
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