(1) The rights of eligible citizens to seek elec-
tion to Congress, vote for candidates of their choice
and associate for the purpose of taking part in elec-
tions, 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 member of Congress are set forth in arti-
cle 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 nomi-
nees, nor members, of the two major political par-
ties. According to the Clerk of the U.S. House of
Representatives, during the twentieth century, voters
have on 116 occasions elected someone to the U.S.
House of Representatives in a regularly-scheduled
election who was neither a Republican nor a Demo-
crat. According to a recent compilation, throughout
the twentieth century, the percentage of voters who
have voted for minor party and independent can-
didates 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 reg-
istered 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 sig-
natures must be notarized. In 2002, in the average
district in Georgia, 14,846 signatures will be re-
quired. 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 Geor-
gia, 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 re-
quires 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 dis-
trict. By contrast, members of qualified political par-
ties 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 re-
quires an independent candidate for the U.S. House
of Representatives to submit a petition signed by
10,000 signatures. By contrast, members of quali-
fied political parties need not submit any petition
signatures in order to run for Congress. No inde-
pendent candidate for the U.S. House of Represent-
atives has ever qualified for the South Carolina bal-
lot. California requires an independent candidate for
the U.S. House of Representatives to submit a peti-
tion signed by 3 percent of the number of registered
voters in the district. In 2002, in the average district
in California, 8,891 signatures will be required. 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 signa-
tures, in order to gain a place on a ballot for U.S.
House of Representatives. They are Frazier Reems,
an independent member of the United 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, independent candidate in California’s 22nd
district in 1996, who had to collect 10,191 valid sig-
natures; 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 any-
one to run for Congress, yet in 2000 there was no
U.S. House race in Florida with more than 4 can-
didates on the ballot. Florida requires a filing fee in-
stead of a petition, for ballot access for everyone.
Hawaii and Tennessee only require 25 signatures for
anyone to run for Congress. Washington does not re-
quire any signatures for members of qualified par-
ties 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 re-
quire new political parties, or independent can-
didates, to file a substantial number of petitions as
much as ten months or more before a general elec-
tion. 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 re-
quires such a petition by November of the year be-
fore 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 can-
didates 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 nomi-
nees 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 reg-
istration 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 na-
tional 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 elec-
toral process and thereby facilitate such participa-
tion and maximize the rights identified in this sub-
section.
(9) The Congress has authority, under the pro-
visions 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 sub-
section.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to establish fair and uniform standards reg-
ulating access to the ballot by eligible citizens who
desire to seek election to the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives 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 citi-
zens 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 individ-
ual’s political party, body, or group affiliation in connec-
tion with such candidacy placed on, a ballot or similar vot-
ing 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 re-
spect 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 peti-
tion 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 peti-
tion 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 Rep-
resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress;
(2) the term ‘‘State’’ means a State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth 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 per-
son 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 indi-
vidual for whom the petition is circulated, and in-
cludes a person who requests another to sign a peti-
tion on his or her behalf at the time when, and at
the place where, the request is made;
(6) the term ‘‘signature’’ includes the incom-
plete name of a signer, the name of a signer con-
taining abbreviations such as first or middle initial,
and the name of a signer preceded or followed by ti-
tles 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.
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