North Dakota Poll Tax Amendment, Measure 1 (2012)

Poll Tax Amendment
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Type:	Constitutional amendment
Constitution:	Article X, Section 6
Referred by:	North Dakota Legislature
Topic:	Administration of government
Status:	a

The North Dakota Poll Tax Amendment, Measure 1 was on the November 6, 2012 statewide ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure revoked the authority for the poll tax and removes language referring to 'paupers, idiots' from the state constitution. Specifically the amendment referred to the part of the state constitution that regulated taxation and public debt.

Election results

See also: 2012 ballot measure election results

North Dakota Measure 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		206,150	71.41%
No		82,518	28.59%

Officials results obtained from the North Dakota Secretary of State.

Text of measure

The official ballot text read as follows:

Constitutional Measure No. 1
(Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4006, 2011 Session Laws, Ch. 520)
This constitutional measure repealed section 6 of Article X of the North Dakota Constitution. This measure eliminated the authority of the legislative assembly to levy an annual poll tax.

YES — means you approve the measure summarized above.
NO — means you reject the measure summarized above.

Constitutional changes

Measure 1 repealed Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of North Dakota.

Article X, Section 6 reads:

	Text of Section 6: The legislative assembly may provide for the levy, collection and disposition of an annual poll tax of not more than one dollar and fifty cents on every male inhabitant of this state over twenty-one and under fifty years of age, except paupers, idiots, insane persons and Indians not taxed.

Support

No formal support was identified.

Opposition

No formal opposition was identified.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the North Dakota Constitution

According to the North Dakota Constitution an amendment proposed by either the House or the Senate requires only majority approval.

On January 21, 2011, the North Dakota Senate voted 46-0 to approve putting an amendment on the ballot. On April 4, 2011, the House voted 92-0 in approval of referring the proposal.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of events surrounding the measure:

Event	Date	Developments
Approval	Jan. 21, 2011	The North Dakota Senate voted 46-0 to approve putting an amendment on the ballot.
Final Approval	Apr. 4, 2011	The House voted 92-0 in approval of referring the proposal.

Similar measures

Voters in New Mexico removed a reference to "idiots" from their state constitution with the passage of 2010's Amendment 3, while voters in the State of Washington did the same thing in 1988, with the enactment of Amendment 83. In 2008, voters in Arkansas took out language in their constitution that referred to "idiots" and "insane persons" with the enactment of Amendment 1.

See also

By Eric Veram Ballot measure writer

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• North Dakota 2012 ballot measures
• 2012 ballot measures

Articles

• North Dakota legislators unanimously refer measure to remove poll tax and 'paupers, idiots'
• North Dakota lawmakers advance measure to remove poll tax and 'paupers, idiots'

External links

• SCR 4006 status
• Senate Concurrent Resolution NO. 4006 (text)

Additional reading

Editorials

• The Dickinson Press,"Property tax repeal will fail," April 10, 2011