; (2) diminishing or appearing to diminish Senators' accountability to constituents by compelling legislators to be accountable to the major contributors who finance their election campaigns; (3) undermining the meaning of the right to vote by allowing monied interests to have a disproportionate and unfair influence within the political process; (4) imposing large, unwarranted costs on taxpayers through legislative and regulatory distortions caused by unequal access to lawmakers for campaign contributors; (5) making it difficult for some qualified candidates to mount competitive Senate election campaigns; (6) disadvantaging challengers and discouraging competitive elections; and (7) burdening incumbents with a preoccupation with fundraising and thus decreasing the time available to carry out their public responsibilities. (b) Enhancement of democracy by providing allocations from the Fair Elections Fund The Senate finds and declares that providing the option of the replacement of large private campaign contributions with allocations from the Fair Elections Fund for all primary, runoff, and general elections to the Senate would enhance American democracy by— (1) reducing the actual or perceived conflicts of interest created by fully private financing of the election campaigns of public officials and restoring public confidence in the integrity and fairness of the electoral and legislative processes through a program which allows participating candidates to adhere to substantially lower contribution limits for contributors with an assurance that there will be sufficient funds for such candidates to run viable electoral campaigns; (2) increasing the public's confidence in the accountability of Senators to the constituents who elect them, which derives from the program's qualifying criteria to participate in the voluntary program and the conclusions that constituents may draw regarding candidates who qualify and participate in the program