Title: Open Our Democracy Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Open Our Democracy Act of 2017
This bill requires open primaries for elections for the office of Senator or Member of the House of Representatives, with general elections between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in each open primary regardless of political party preference. The bill also makes Election Day (the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in even-numbered years) a legal public holiday for federal employees and requires congressional redistricting to be conducted by an independent state commission.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2981

  To require all candidates for election for the office of Senator or 
   Member of the House of Representatives to run in an open primary 
regardless of political party preference or lack thereof, to limit the 
    ensuing general election for such office to the two candidates 
 receiving the greatest number of votes in such open primary, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 21, 2017

   Mr. Delaney (for himself, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Kilmer, and Mr. Polis) 
 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 Senator or 
   Member of the House of Representatives to run in an open primary 
regardless of political party preference or lack thereof, to limit the 
    ensuing general election for such office to the two candidates 
 receiving the greatest number of votes in such open primary, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Open Our Democracy Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THROUGH OPEN PRIMARIES.

    (a) Rules for Election of Members.--A candidate for election for 
the office of Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall 
be elected to such office pursuant to the following elections held by 
the State in which the candidate seeks election:
            (1) An open primary election for such office held in 
        accordance with subsection (b).
            (2) A general election for such office held in accordance 
        with subsection (c).
    (b) Open Primaries.--Each State shall hold an open primary election 
for each office of Senator or Member of the House of Representatives in 
the State under which--
            (1) each candidate for such office, regardless of the 
        candidate's political party preference or lack thereof, shall 
        appear on a single ballot; and
            (2) each voter in the State who is eligible to vote in 
        elections for Federal office in the State (in the case of an 
        election for the office of Senator) or in the congressional 
        district involved (in the case of an election for the office of 
        Member of the House of Representatives) may cast a ballot in 
        the election, regardless of the voter's political party 
        preference or lack thereof.
    (c) General Election.--Each State shall hold a general election for 
each office of Senator or Member of the House of Representatives in the 
State under which the 2 candidates receiving the greatest number of 
votes in the open primary election for such office (as described in 
subsection (b)), without regard to the political party preference or 
lack thereof of such candidates, shall be the only candidates appearing 
on the ballot.

SEC. 3. ABILITY OF CANDIDATES TO DISCLOSE POLITICAL PARTY PREFERENCES.

    (a) Option of Candidates To Declare Political Party Preference.--At 
the time a candidate for the office of Senator or Member of the House 
of Representatives files to run for such office, the candidate shall 
have the option of declaring a political party preference, and the 
preference chosen (if any) shall accompany the candidate's name on the 
ballot for the election for such office.
    (b) Designation for Candidates Not Declaring Preference.--If a 
candidate does not declare a political party preference under 
subsection (a), the designation ``No Party Preference'' shall accompany 
the candidate's name on the ballot for the election for such office.
    (c) No Party Endorsement Implied.--The selection of a party 
preference by a candidate under subsection (a) shall not constitute or 
imply endorsement of the candidate by the party designated, and no 
candidate in a general election shall be deemed the official candidate 
of any party by virtue of his or her selection in the primary.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

    Nothing in this Act shall restrict the right of individuals to join 
or organize into political parties or in any way restrict the right of 
private association of political parties. Nothing in this Act shall 
restrict a party's right to contribute to, endorse, or otherwise 
support a candidate for the office of Senator or Member of the House of 
Representatives. Nothing in this Act may be construed to prevent a 
political party from establishing such procedures as it sees fit to 
endorse or support candidates or otherwise participate in all 
elections, or from informally designating candidates for election to 
such an office at a party convention or by whatever lawful mechanism 
the party may choose, other than pursuant to a primary election held by 
a State. Nothing in this Act may be construed to prevent a political 
party from adopting such rules as it sees fit for the selection of 
party officials (including central committee members, presidential 
electors, and party officers), including rules restricting 
participation in elections for party officials to those who disclose a 
preference for that party at the time of registering to vote.

SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MANNER AS LEGAL PUBLIC 
              HOLIDAY FOR PURPOSES OF FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of any law relating to Federal 
employment, the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in 2018 
and each even-numbered year thereafter shall be treated in the same 
manner as a legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 5, 
United States Code.
    (b) Sense of Congress Regarding Treatment of Day by Private 
Employers.--It is the sense of Congress that private employers in the 
United States should give their employees a day off on the Tuesday next 
after the first Monday in November in 2018 and each even-numbered year 
thereafter to enable the employees to cast votes in the elections held 
on that day.
    (c) No Effect on Early or Absentee Voting.--Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to affect the authority of States to permit 
individuals to cast ballots in elections for Federal office prior to 
the date of the election (including the casting of ballots by mail) or 
to cast absentee ballots in the election.

SEC. 6. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED THROUGH 
              PLAN OF INDEPENDENT STATE COMMISSION.

    (a) Use of Plan Required.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, any congressional redistricting conducted by a State shall be 
conducted in accordance with the redistricting plan developed and 
enacted into law by an independent redistricting commission established 
in the State in accordance with State law.
    (b) Requirements for Independent Redistricting Commission.--The 
independent redistricting commission established in a State pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall have such members, who shall be appointed under 
such requirements, as the State may establish, so long as--
            (1) the commission is prohibited from using partisan or 
        political considerations in developing the State's 
        redistricting plan; and
            (2) no political party in the State has control over the 
        commission.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 22(c) of the Act entitled ``An 
Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and 
to provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress'', 
approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking ``in 
the manner provided by the law thereof'' and inserting: ``in the manner 
provided by the Open Our Democracy Act of 2017''.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section and the amendment made by this 
section shall apply with respect to congressional redistricting carried 
out pursuant to the decennial census conducted during 2020 or any 
succeeding decennial census.

SEC. 7. MEMBER OF THE HOUSE DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Member of the House of Representatives'' 
includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as provided in sections 5(a) and 6, this Act shall apply 
with respect to elections occurring during 2018 or any succeeding year.
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