Q: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Voter Freedom Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The rights of eligible citizens to seek election to
Congress, vote for candidates of their choice and associate for
the purpose of taking part in elections, 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 members of Congress are set forth in
article 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 nominees, nor members,
of the two major political parties. According to the Clerk of
the U.S. House of Representatives, voters have on at least 125
occasions elected someone to the U.S. House of Representatives
who was neither a Republican nor a Democrat. According to a
recent compilation, throughout the twentieth century, the
percentage of voters who have voted for minor party and
independent candidates 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 registered 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 signatures must be
notarized. 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 Georgia, 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 requires 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 district. By
contrast, members of qualified political parties 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
requires an independent candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives to submit a petition signed by 10,000
signatures. By contrast, members of qualified political parties
need not submit any petition signatures in order to run for
Congress. No independent candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives has ever qualified for the South Carolina
ballot. California requires an independent candidate for the
U.S. House of Representatives to submit a petition signed by 3
percent of the number of registered voters in the district. 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 signatures in order to gain a
place on a ballot for U.S. House of Representatives. They are
Frazier Reems, an independent member of the U.S. 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, an independent candidate in
California's 22nd district in 1996, who had to collect 10,191
valid signatures; 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 anyone to run for Congress, yet in 2000 there was no U.S.
House race in Florida with more than 4 candidates on the
ballot. Florida requires a filing fee instead of a petition for
ballot access for everyone. Hawaii and Tennessee only require
25 signatures for anyone to run for Congress. Washington does
not require any signatures for members of qualified parties 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 require new
political parties, or independent candidates, to file a
substantial number of petitions as much as ten months or more
before a general election. 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 requires such a petition by
November of the year before 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 candidates 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 nominees 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 registration 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 national
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 electoral process and thereby
facilitate such participation and maximize the rights
identified in this subsection.
(9) The Congress has authority, under the provisions 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 subsection.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish fair and uniform standards regulating
access to the ballot by eligible citizens who desire to seek
election to the U.S. House of Representatives 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 citizens 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 individual's political party, body, or
group affiliation in connection with such candidacy placed on, a ballot
or similar voting 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 respect 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 petition 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 petition 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 Representative in, or
Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress;
(2) the term ''State'' means a State of the United States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 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 person 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 individual for whom the petition is
circulated, and includes a person who requests another to sign
a petition on his or her behalf at the time when, and at the
place where, the request is made;
(6) the term ''signature'' includes the incomplete name of
a signer, the name of a signer containing abbreviations such as
first or middle initial, and the name of a signer preceded or
followed by titles 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.
A:
Voter Freedom Act of 2003 - Declares that an individual shall have the right to be placed as a candidate on, and to have his or her political party, body, or group affiliation in connection with such candidacy placed on, a ballot or similar voting materials to be used in a congressional election, if certain conditions are met.Requires the individual to present a petition stating that its signers desire the 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 respect to which such rights are to be exercised. Requires such petition to have at least 1,000 signatures of registered voters in the district, or, if the State in which the district is located does not provide for voter registration, to bear the signatures of at least 1,000 eligible voters in that State and district.Specifies the period during which a petition must be circulated.