North Dakota Definition of Marriage, Constitutional Measure 1 (2004)

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The North Dakota Definition of Marriage Initiative, also known as Constitutional Measure 1, was on the November 2, 2004 ballot in North Dakota as an initiated constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure defined marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman and disallowed other domestic unions to be recognized as a substantially equivalent to marriage.

Aftermath

U.S. Supreme Court

See also: Obergefell v. Hodges

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. This ruling overturned all voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.

Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent.

The concluding paragraph of the court's majority opinion read:

“	No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.	”
—Opinion of the Court in Obergefell v. Hodges

Election results

North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1 (2004)
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		223,572	73.23%
No		81,716	26.77%

Election results via: North Dakota Secretary of State

Text of measure

See also: North Dakota Constitution, Article XI, Section 28

Ballot title

The language appeared on the ballot as:

“

OFFICIAL BALLOT LANGUAGE FOR THE MEASURE APPEARING ON THE ELECTION BALLOT November 2, 2004 This ballot contains one constitutional measure placed on the ballot by initiative petition. This measure is being submitted to the voters of North Dakota for their approval or rejection. A voter may vote upon the measure by placing a cross (X) or other mark opposite the words “YES” or “NO” following his or her choice. CONSTITUTIONAL MEASURE NO. 1 This constitutional measure would add a new section to article XI of the North Dakota Constitution, as follows: Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect. A “YES” vote means you approve the measure as set out above. A “NO” vote means you reject the measure as set out above.

”

Constitutional changes

The measure added Section 28 to Article XI of the North Dakota Constitution, reading as follows:

	Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.

Support

Supporters

• Christina Rondeau, Director of the North Dakota Family Alliance

Campaign contributions

The following were committees registered in support of Amendment 1:

PAC info:

PAC	Amount raised	Amount spent
Traditional Marriage Crusade	$0	$0
Total	$0	$0

Opposition

Opponents

• Robert Uebel, Chairperson for Equality North Dakota

Campaign contributions

The following were committees registered in opposition to Amendment 1:

PAC info:

PAC	Amount raised	Amount spent
Equality North Dakota	$8,974	$8,974
Total	$8,974	$8,974

The following were contributors to the "no" campaign:

Top 5 contributors:

Donor	Amount
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition	$2,000
Douglas Johnson	$500
JoAnn Johnson	$500
Larry Peterson	$400
Bruce Gjovig	$200,000

Path to the ballot

The petition language was submitted to the North Dakota Secretary of State for review and approval for circulation on May 26, 2004. The Secretary of State approved the petition for circulation on June 4, 2004.

Related measures

Many historical marriage and family-related ballot measures regard the definition of legal marriage. The debate often revolved around whether marriage should be legally defined as the “union of one male and one female” or the “union of two persons [regardless of sex].” Voters chose to define marriage as between “one male and one female” in the following 30 states. The first constitutional prohibition was in 1998, and the latest one occurred in May 2012. All bans on same-sex marriage were overturned in the 2015 United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.

• 1998: Alaska
• 2000: Nebraska
• 2002: Nevada
• 2004: Arkansas
• 2004: Georgia
• 2004: Kentucky
• 2004: Louisiana
• 2004: Michigan
• 2004: Mississippi
• 2004: Missouri
• 2004: Montana
• 2004: North Dakota
• 2004: Ohio
• 2004: Oklahoma
• 2004: Oregon
• 2004: Utah
• 2005: Kansas
• 2005: Texas
• 2006: Alabama
• 2006: Colorado
• 2006: Idaho
• 2006: South Carolina
• 2006: South Dakota
• 2006: Tennessee
• 2006: Virginia
• 2006: Wisconsin
• 2008: Arizona
• 2008: California
• 2008: Florida
• 2012: North Carolina

See also

Suggest a link

• North Dakota 2004 ballot measures
• 2004 ballot measures
• List of North Dakota ballot measures
• History of Initiative & Referendum in North Dakota

External links

• Equality North Dakota
• North Dakota Secretary of State Election Results
• USA Today, "Gay marriage ban passed in North Dakota," November 2, 2004
• North Dakota Legislative Assembly 2003 Session Laws