North Dakota elections, 2012

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The state of North Dakota held elections in 2012. Below are the dates of note:

• Signature filing deadline: March 14 (Measures to appear in Primary); April 13, 2012 (Candidates); & August 8 (Measures to appear in general election)
• Primary date: June 12, 2012
• General election date: November 6, 2012

On the 2012 ballot			Click here for all November 6, 2012 Election Results
U.S. Senate (1 seat)	a	Preview Article
U.S. House (1 seats)	a
State Executives (6 positions)	a	Preview Article
State Senate (25 seats)	a	Preview Article
State House (50 seats)	a
Ballot measures (9 measures)	a	Preview Article

2012 Elections

Note: Election information listed on this page does not pertain to 2012 presidential elections. For more about Ballotpedia's areas of coverage, click here.
For election results in the 50 states, see our November 6, 2012 election results page

Elections by type

• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House
• State Executives
• State Senate
• State House
• Ballot measures

See also: United States Senate elections in North Dakota, 2012

U.S. Senate, North Dakota, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Heidi Heitkamp	50.5%	161,337
	Republican	Rick Berg	49.5%	158,401
Total Votes				319,738
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in North Dakota, 2012

Members of the U.S. House from North Dakota -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	0	0
	Republican Party	1	1
Total		1	1

District	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
At-large	Pam Gulleson Kevin Cramer Eric Olson	Rick Berg	Kevin Cramer	No

See also: North Dakota state executive official elections, 2012

There were six state executive positions up for election.

• Governor of North Dakota
• Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
• North Dakota State Auditor
• North Dakota Treasurer
• North Dakota Commissioner of Insurance
• North Dakota Public Service Commission (1 officer)

Governor/Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley Incumbent	63.1%	200,525
	Democratic	Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee	34.3%	109,048
	Independent	Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman	1.7%	5,356
	Independent	Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns	0.8%	2,618
Total Votes				317,547
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

Governor/Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley Incumbent	63.1%	200,525
	Democratic	Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee	34.3%	109,048
	Independent	Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman	1.7%	5,356
	Independent	Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns	0.8%	2,618
Total Votes				317,547
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

North Dakota State Auditor General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Robert Peterson Incumbent	62.6%	188,859
	Democratic	Scot Kelsh	37.4%	112,803
Total Votes				301,662
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

North Dakota Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kelly Schmidt Incumbent	65.9%	197,041
	Democratic	Ross Mushik	34.1%	101,795
Total Votes				298,836
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

North Dakota Commissioner of Insurance General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Adam Hamm Incumbent	63.3%	192,031
	Democratic	Tom Potter	36.7%	111,099
Total Votes				303,130
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

North Dakota Public Service Commission General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Christmann	54.6%	164,591
	Democratic	Brad Crabtree	41.1%	123,978
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	4.3%	13,098
Total Votes				301,667
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Republicans maintained partisan control in the state senate.

North Dakota State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	12	13
	Republican Party	35	33
	Vacancy		1
Total		47	47

See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Republicans maintained partisan control in the state house.

North Dakota House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	25	23
	Republican Party	69	71
Total		94	94

See also: North Dakota 2012 ballot measures

June 12:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Measure 1	Admin of gov't	Allows legislators to be appointed to full-time appointive state office	a
CICA	Measure 2	Taxes	Eliminates property taxes as a source of state revenue	d
CICA	Measure 3	Religion	Prohibits gov't from burdening person or organization from religious liberty	d
VR	Measure 4	Motto and symbols	Repeals the North Dakota Legislature's decision to allow UND to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname.	a

November 6:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Measure 1	Admin of gov't	Revokes the authority for the poll tax and remove the offensive language	a
LRCA	Measure 2	Admin of gov't	Requires the governor and other executive officials to take an oath of office	a
CICA	Measure 3	Animal rights	Blocks any law which abridges the right of farmers and ranchers.	a
CISS	Measure 4	Smoking bans	Bana smoking in all indoor workplaces.	a
CISS	Measure 5	Treatment of animals	Makes it a felony to maliciously harm a cat, dog, or horse, with exemptions for people with occupations involving animals.	d

Eligibility to Vote

Primary election

See also: Voting in the 2012 primary elections

North Dakota is one of 19 states to use an open primary system. North Dakota has no voter registration -- in order to vote, voters must simply prove that they have resided in the state for 30 days.

General election

See also: Voting in the 2012 general elections

North Dakota has no voter registration -- in order to vote, voters must simply prove that they have resided in the state for 30 days.

• Voter ID info
• Residency requirements: Resident of North Dakota for 30 days prior to the election
• Same-day registration: N/A

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee Voting

Eligibility

All voters are eligible to vote absentee in North Dakota. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.

Deadlines

There is no specific deadline for applying for an absentee ballot. The voted ballot must be postmarked at least 1 day before the election if mailed. If returned in person, it must be returned by the day before the election.

Military and overseas voting

For full details, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program here.

Voting early

See also: Early voting

North Dakota is one of 33 states that has early voting with no specific requirements as to who can vote early. Early voting begins 15 days before an election and ends on the day prior to election day. The average number of days prior to an election that voters can cast an early ballot is 21 days in states with a definitive starting date.

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• 2012 election dates
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
• Voting in North Dakota
• Absentee voting
• Early voting

External links

• The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead - 2012 voters guide