North Dakota Initiated Measure 1, Congressional Age Limits Initiative (June 2024)

North Dakota Initiated Measure 1
Election date June 11, 2024
Topic Elections and campaigns
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

North Dakota Initiated Measure 1, the Congressional Age Limits Initiative, was on the ballot in North Dakota as an initiated constitutional amendment on June 11, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported preventing an individual from being elected or appointed to serve in the United States Senate or United States House of Representatives if the individual would become 81 years old by December 31 of the year preceding the end of their term.

A "no" vote opposed creating an age limit for congressional officeholders.

Election results

North Dakota Initiated Measure 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		68,468	60.84%
No		44,076	39.16%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Initiated Measure 1 do?

See also: Text of measure

The initiative was designed to prohibit an individual from being elected or appointed to serve in the United States Senate or United States House of Representatives if the individual would become 81 years old by December 31 of the year preceding the end of their term. The initiative provided that, in the case of a court ruling blocking the enforcement of the age limit, any candidate who would be restricted from serving due to the age limit, would be barred from appearing on the ballot to be nominated or elected to serve in the House or Senate. If a court ruling requires such a candidate to appear on the ballot, the initiative would require a note on ballots next to the candidate's name stating the candidate's age at the end of their term. Specifically, the notice would read, "Candidate would be [candidate age on December 31st of the year immediately preceding the end of term] years old by end of term.”

Who supported and opposed the initiative?

See also: Support, Opposition, and Campaign finance

Retire Congress North Dakota led the campaign in support of the initiative. The committee was chaired by Jared Hendrix (R), who led the campaign that sponsored Measure 1 of 2022, which created term limits for governor and state legislators. The committee was funded by U.S. Term Limits, an organization that had worked to pass laws in 23 states to enact congressional term limits, which were overturned by the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton.

Hendrix said, “Serving in Congress has become a lifelong occupation for many members. Sadly, Congress has gone from the world’s greatest deliberative body to one of the nation’s best assisted living facilities.”

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

What has been said about the potential impacts of the initiative?

See also: Background

Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota, said the initiative could serve as a test case to determine whether the U.S. Supreme Court would allow individual states to set congressional age limits.

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress that are stricter than those specified in the United States Constitution. Associate Professor Jason Marisam, who teaches constitutional law and election law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, said the initiative appears to be unconstitutional under the 1995 Supreme Court ruling.

A lawsuit concerning the initiative could prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its 1995 ruling in U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The petition title for this initiative was as follows:

“

This initiated measure creates a new article in the North Dakota Constitution entitled “Congressional Age Limits.” Under this Article, no person may be elected or appointed to serve a term or a portion of a term representing North Dakota in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives if that person could be 81 years old by December 31 of the year immediately preceding the end of the term, and any such person is prohibited from appearing on the ballot. If a superior law requires age-limited candidates to appear on the ballot in a primary or general election, the candidates’ age on December 31 of the year immediately preceding the end of the term they are seeking must be printed next to the names of all candidates for all federal legislative offices in future elections. This Article gives standing to enforce the article to any elector; permits an eligible person to file to appear on the primary election ballot or use an alternate statutory nomination method for a federal legislative office for the 2026 election immediately after this law takes effect; and provides immediate standing in the courts of this state to challenge the limited question of whether a denial violates article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The Article also requires the Attorney General to zealously defend Section 4 of the Article and permits any elector residing within the district of an applicable office to timely join in the defense of Section 4 as a real party in interest. The Article’s provisions are severable, and, if any provision is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions and their application must not be affected. If this Article conflicts with any other provision of the North Dakota Constitution, the provisions of this Article must control. The Article will take effect immediately upon passage at the 2024 primary election or 2024 general election.

”

Constitutional changes

The ballot measure created a new article in the North Dakota Constitution entitled Congressional Age Limits. The following underlined text was added:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

SECTION 1. MAXIMUM AGE OF 80 YEARS. No person may be elected or appointed to serve a term or a portion of a term in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives if that person could attain 81 years of age by December 31st of the year immediately preceding the end of the term.

SECTION 2. BALLOT ACCESS RESTRICTION. Notwithstanding any judicial determination regarding the enforceability of section 1, no candidates who would be barred from service under section 1 shall be permitted to appear on the ballot to be nominated for, or elected to, such offices.

SECTON 3. BALLOT ADVISORY. In the event superior law requires age-limited candidates to appear on the ballot in primary or general elections in contravention of section 2, the following ballot advisory shall appear parenthetically next to the names of all candidates for all federal legislative offices in future elections: “Candidate would be [candidate age on December 31st of the year immediately preceding the end of term] years old by end of term.” 

SECTION 4. IMPLEMENTATION. This article shall take effect immediately and apply to any nomination for, or election to, a federal legislative office held at any election or by any other nominating method held after the effective date of this law.

i. Any elector shall have standing to enforce this article. To expedite legal review, any otherwise eligible person may file to appear on the primary election ballot or to use alternate statutory nomination methods for a federal legislative office for the 2026 elections immediately after this law takes effect. Any denial of a filing under the terms of this article during the 2026 early filing period shall provide immediate standing in the courts of this state to challenge the limited question of whether the denial violates Article 1 of the United States Constitution.

ii. Any action filed under this section shall be advanced on the docket and a final judgment shall be entered within 60 days. Any appeal of the judgment shall be noticed within 10 days. The North Dakota State Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction over the appeal and shall issue its order and mandate within 60 days of the filing of the notice of appeal.

iii. The Attorney General shall zealously defend all portions of this section, in the courts of this state or of the United States, as an exercise of an important and fundamental state interest. In any action commenced in a court of this state, any elector residing within the district of an applicable office shall be permitted to timely join in the defense of this section as a real party in interest.

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this article are severable, and if any provision is held to be invalid, either on its face or as applied, the remaining provisions and their application shall not be affected thereby. In any case of a conflict between any provision of this article and any other provision of this constitution, the provisions of this article shall control.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 19, and the FRE is 20. The word count for the ballot title is 303.

Support

Retire Congress North Dakota led the campaign in support of the initiative. The committee was chaired by Jared Hendrix (R), who led the campaign that sponsored Measure 1 of 2022, which created term limits for governor and state legislators.

Supporters

Organizations

• U.S. Term Limits

Arguments

• Retire Congress North Dakota: "Serving in Congress has become a lifelong occupation for many members. The median age in Washington, D.C. is far above the median age in America. Representing constituents, reviewing nominations,overseeing government agencies and international agreements demand mental alertness. Serving in Congress is both a mentally and physically strenuous role. With age comes health and cognitive decline, which invariably lead to absences and policy concerns. While these are sensitive topics, we’d be doing a disservice to our Republic by not discussing them. Some Congressmembers remain in office despite questionable cognizance. This also draws to question if these members, often capping multi-decade careers as politicians, are capable of understanding the issues of the day, or if they truly represent the best interests of their constituents?" The group also said, "It is worth noting that we already have age limits on Congress. The qualifications clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits potential candidates from being elected for the U.S. Senate until they have reached 30 years old. It also prohibits candidates younger than 25 from being elected to the U.S. House. We have age limits on the lower threshold. It is clear that we need to set an upper age limit."
• Support campaign chairman Jared Hendrix: "It’s been an issue in North Dakota, it’s been an issue nationally. We don’t want to have those problems here, so it’s not some theoretical legal position. I mean, these are actual situations with real consequences."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for North Dakota ballot measures

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through January 31, 2025.

Retire Congress North Dakota registered to support the initiative. The committee reported $41,000 in contributions.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$20,000.00	$21,000.00	$41,000.00	$10,000.00	$31,000.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$20,000.00	$21,000.00	$41,000.00	$10,000.00	$31,000.00

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in support of the initiative.

Committees in support of Initiated Measure 1
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Retire Congress North Dakota	$20,000.00	$21,000.00	$41,000.00	$10,000.00	$31,000.00
Total	$20,000.00	$21,000.00	$41,000.00	$10,000.00	$31,000.00

Donors

U.S. Term Limits provided 100% of the donations to the support committee.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
U.S. Term Limits	$20,000.00	$21,000.00	$41,000.00

Opposition

Ballotpedia has not identified a committee registered to oppose the initiative.

Methodology

To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.

Background

U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton

See also: U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress that are stricter than those specified in the United States Constitution.

The case was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court after Amendment 73 to Arkansas' Constitution was challenged in the Arkansas Supreme Court. Amendment 73, which was approved by voters with 60% in favor and 40% opposed, was designed to limit members of Congress to serving three terms and members of the U.S. Senate to serving two terms. After the amendment's adoption, Bobbie Hill, a member of the League of Women Voters, sued in state court to have it judicially invalidated. She alleged that the new restrictions amounted to an unwarranted expansion of the specific qualifications for membership in Congress enumerated in the United States Constitution.

A trial court, as well as the Arkansas Supreme Court, declared the amendment unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the state supreme court's ruling.

The ruling overturned laws establishing federal congressional term limits in 23 states that U.S. Term Limits had helped to pass. U.S. Term Limits is an organization established in 1990 with a mission of advocating for term limits at all levels of government.

Associate Professor Jason Marisam, who teaches constitutional law and election law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, said the initiative appears to be unconstitutional under the 1995 Supreme Court ruling. Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota, stated that the initiative could serve as a test case to determine if the U.S. Supreme Court would allow individual states to set congression age limits.

Term limits in North Dakota

See also: North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1, Term Limits for Governor and State Legislators Initiative (2022)

In 2022, North Dakota voters approved Constitutional Measure 1, which was also sponsored by Jared Hendrix and supported by U.S. Term Limits.

Constitutional Measure 1 limited the governor to serving two terms. It limited state legislators to serving eight years in the state House and eight years in the state Senate. A member of the House or Senate may not serve a term or remaining portion of a term if it would cause the legislator to have served a cumulative time of more than eight years in the chamber. The measure only applies to individuals elected after approval of the amendment. The measure provided that the provisions of the amendment can only be amended by citizen initiative petitions and not by the state legislature. Prior to the approval of the initiative, in North Dakota, the governor and lawmakers each served four-year terms with no limit on the number of terms that may be served.

United States congressional delegations from North Dakota

See also: United States congressional delegations from North Dakota

North Dakota has one representative in the United States House. At the time of the election, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R) was 47 years old. North Dakota’s Senators—Kevin Cramer (R) and John Hoeven (R)—were 63 and 66 years old, respectively.

The current members of the U.S. Senate from North Dakota are:

Office	Name	Party	Date assumed office	Date term ends
U.S. Senate North Dakota	Kevin Cramer	Republican	January 3, 2019	January 3, 2031
U.S. Senate North Dakota	John Hoeven	Republican	January 3, 2011	January 3, 2029

The current member of the U.S. House from North Dakota is:

Office	Name	Party	Date assumed office	Date term ends
U.S. House North Dakota At-large District	Julie Fedorchak	Republican	January 3, 2025	January 3, 2027

Historical members

U.S. Senate

Historical Representation to the U.S. Senate by Party from North Dakota
Party	Total
Democratic	10
Republican	15

Class 1 Senators from North Dakota
Senators	Years Served	Party
Lyman R. Casey	1889-1893	Republican
William N. Roach	1893-1899	Democratic
Porter J. McCumber	1899-1923	Republican
Lynn J. Frazier	1923-1941	Republican
William Langer	1941-1959	Republican
C. Norman Brunsdale	1959-1960	Republican
Quentin N. Burdick	1960-1992	Democratic
Jocelyn B. Burdick	1992-1992	Democratic
Kent Conrad	1992-2013	Democratic
Heidi Heitkamp	2013-2019	Democratic
Kevin Cramer	2019-Present	Republican

Class 3 Senators from North Dakota
Senators	Years Served	Party
Gilbert A. Pierce	1889-1891	Republican
Henry C. Hansbrough	1891-1909	Republican
Martin N. Johnson	1909-1909	Republican
Fountain L. Thompson	1909-1910	Democratic
William E. Purcell	1910-1911	Democratic
Asle J. Gronna	1911-1921	Republican
Edwin F. Ladd	1921-1925	Republican
Gerald P. Nye	1925-1945	Republican
John Moses	1945-1945	Democratic
Milton R. Young	1945-1981	Republican
Mark Andrews	1981-1987	Republican
Kent Conrad	1987-1992	Democratic
Byron L. Dorgan	1992-2011	Democratic
John Hoeven	2011-Present	Republican

2000s

Historical Representation to the U.S. House by Party in the 2000s from North Dakota
Party	Total
Democratic	0
Republican	4
Nonpartisan	0
Total Representatives	4

Representatives to the U.S. House from North Dakota
Representatives	Years Served	Party
Rick Berg	2011-2013	Republican
Kevin Cramer	2013-2019	Republican
Kelly Armstrong	2019-2024	Republican
Julie Fedorchak	2025-present	Republican

1900s

Historical Representation to the U.S. House by Party in the 1900s from North Dakota
Party	Total
Democratic	5
Republican	19
Nonpartisan	1
Total Representatives	25

Representatives to the U.S. House from North Dakota
Representatives	Years Served	Party
Thomas Frank Marshall	1901-1908	Republican
Burleigh Folsom Spalding	1903-1904	Republican
Asle Jorgenson Gronna	1905-1910	Republican
Louis Benjamin Hanna	1909-1912	Republican
Henry Thomas Helgesen	1911-1918	Republican
Patrick Daniel Norton	1913-1918	Republican
George Morley Young	1913-1924	Republican
John Miller Baer	1917-1920	Republican
James Herbert Sinclair	1919-1934	Republican
Olger Burton Burtness	1921-1932	Republican
Thomas Hall	1923-1932	Republican
William Lemke	1933-1950	Nonpartisan
Usher Lloyd Burdick	1935-1958	Republican
Charles Raymond Robertson	1941-1948	Republican
Fred George Aandahl	1951-1952	Republican
Otto Krueger	1953-1958	Republican
Quentin Northrup Burdick	1959-1960	Democratic
Don Levingston Short	1959-1964	Republican
Hjalmar Carl Nygaard	1961-1964	Republican
Mark Andrews	1963-1980	Republican
Rolland W. Redlin	1965-1966	Democratic
Thomas Savig Kleppe	1967-1970	Republican
Arthur Albert Link	1971-1972	Democratic
Byron Leslie Dorgan	1981-1992	Democratic
Earl Pomeroy	1993-2010	Democratic

1800s

Historical Representation to the U.S. House by Party in the 1800s from North Dakota
Party	Total
Democratic	0
Republican	3
Nonpartisan	0
Total Representatives	3

Representatives to the U.S. House from North Dakota
Representatives	Years Served	Party
Henry Clay Hansbrough	1889-1890	Republican
Martin Nelson Johnson	1891-1898	Republican
Burleigh Folsom Spalding	1899-1900	Republican

North Dakota party control

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Between 1992 and 2021, North Dakota was under the following types of trifecta control:

• Democratic trifecta: None
• Republican trifecta: 1995-2021
• Divided government: 1992-1994

North Dakota Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas  •  Thirty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in North Dakota

The state process

In North Dakota, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 4 percent of the population of the state. North Dakota is unique in using the population to determine signature requirements for initiatives and referendums. Petitioners may circulate a petition for one year following the secretary of state's initial approval. The signatures must be submitted at least 120 days prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2024 ballot:

• Signatures: 31,164
• Deadline: Each initiative has its own signature deadline of one year after it was approved for circulation. The final deadline to submit signatures regardless of a petition's approval date was July 8, 2024.

Once the signatures have been gathered, the secretary of state verifies them using a random sample method. Since North Dakota does not have a voter registration system, the secretary of state may use "questionnaires, postcards, telephone calls, personal interviews, or other accepted information-gathering techniques" to verify the selected signatures.

Details about this initiative

• The initiative was filed by Jared Hendrix on July 12, 2023. It was approved for signature gathering on June 26, 2023, with 31,164 valid signatures due before midnight on February 12, 2024, to qualify for the 2024 primary ballot. To qualify for the November 2024 ballot, signatures were due by July 8, 2024.
• Jared Hendrix filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota naming North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe and Attorney General Drew Wrigley as defendants. Hendrix wanted to use an out-of-state signature-gathering company, Accelevate 2020, LLC, to collect signatures for the initiative. Plaintiffs argue that the state law requiring signature gatherers to be North Dakota residents is discriminatory against ballot measures since political candidate campaigns can hire out-of-state workers.
• Proponents submitted around 42,000 signatures on February 9, 2024.
• The secretary of state's office confirmed that sponsors had submitted about 1,200 signatures above the required 31,164, meaning the initiative qualified for the June ballot.

Signature gathering cost

See also: Ballot measures cost per required signatures analysis

Sponsors of the measure hired U.S. Term Limits to collect signatures for the petition to qualify this measure for the ballot. A total of $34,422.00 was spent to collect the 31,164 valid signatures required to put this measure before voters, resulting in a total cost per required signature (CPRS) of $1.10.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in North Dakota

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in North Dakota.

How to vote in North Dakota

Poll times

In North Dakota, voting hours at polling locations vary by county. According to statute, all polls must open between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. local time, and they must close between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. North Dakota is divided between the Central and Mountain time zones. Hours for specific polling places are available online through the state's Polling Place Search. A voter who is standing in line at the time the polls close will be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter information here.

North Dakota is the only state that does not require voter registration.

“	Although North Dakota was one of the first states to adopt voter registration prior to the turn of the century, it abolished it in 1951. It is also worth noting that North Dakota law still provides cities with the ability to register voters for city elections. North Dakota is a rural state and its communities maintain close ties and networks. North Dakota's system of voting, and lack of voter registration, is rooted in its rural character by providing small precincts. Establishing relatively small precincts is intended to ensure that election boards know the voters who come to the polls to vote on Election Day and can easily detect those who should not be voting in the precinct.	”
—North Dakota Secretary of State

Voter ID requirements

North Dakota requires voters to present identification while voting. Identification must include the voter’s name, current North Dakota residential address, and date of birth.

Acceptable forms of voter identification include:

• Driver’s license
• Nondriver’s identification card
• Tribal government-issued identification (including those issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for a tribe located in North Dakota, any other tribal agency or entity, or any other document that sets forth the tribal member’s name, date of birth, and current North Dakota residential address)
• Long-term care identification certificate (provided by North Dakota facility)

If a voter does not have a form of identification that includes his or her current North Dakota residential address or date of birth, the voter can present the following supplemental documents:

• Current utility bill
• Current bank statement
• Check or a document issued by a federal, state, local, or tribal government (including those issued by BIA for a tribe located in North Dakota, any other tribal agency or entity, or any other document that sets forth the tribal member’s name, date of birth, and current North Dakota residential address)
• Paycheck
• Student photo ID card from a North Dakota institution containing the student's photograph and legal name. A printed document on school letterhead containing the student’s name, address, and date of birth must also be presented.
• North Dakota residents living outside of the United States can submit a U.S. Passport or Military ID if they do not have another valid form of identification.

According to the secretary of state's office, "An applicant without an acceptable form of identification may use an attester. The attester must provide his or her name, North Dakota driver’s license, nondriver’s, or tribal identification number, and sign the absentee/mail ballot application form to attest to the applicant’s North Dakota residency and voting eligibility."

Voters who cast absentee/mail-in ballot must include a valid form of identification with their ballot. A voter who has a disability that prevents them from leaving his or her home and is unable to obtain a valid form of identification "must provide his or her name, North Dakota driver’s license, nondriver’s, or tribal identification number, and sign the absentee/mail ballot application form to attest to the applicant’s North Dakota residency and voting eligibility."

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• Elections and campaigns on the ballot
• 2024 petition deadlines

North Dakota

• North Dakota ballot measures
• North Dakota initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Full text/approved petition
• Timeline
• North Dakota Secretary of State: Ballot Petitions Being Circulated