North Dakota Constitutional Amendment Supermajority Vote and Election Date Measure (2022)

North Dakota Constitutional Amendment Supermajority Vote and Election Date Measure
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Supermajority requirements
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The North Dakota Constitutional Amendment Supermajority Vote and Election Date Measure was not on the ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

This amendment would have required a 60% supermajority vote in the state legislature to pass constitutional amendments; (instead of a 50%+1 simple majority) and would have required a 60% supermajority vote of approval from voters to ratify constitutional amendments. The amendment would have required initiated constitutional amendments to appear on the general election ballot in November instead of the June primary ballot or a special election ballot.

Text of measure

The full text of the proposed constitutional changes is available here.

Background

Majority requirements for constitutional amendments

See also: Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment and Initiated constitutional amendment

Constitutional amendments require approval by voters in a statewide election to become a part of the state's constitution except in Delaware. As of 2021, 38 states required a simple majority vote (50%+1) for a proposed constitutional amendment to be adopted. In 11 states, voters must approve a proposed constitutional amendment by more than a simple majority or by some rule that combines different criteria.

Expand the content below to see details about approval requirements for constitutional amendments

Simple majority As of 2021, 38 states required a simple majority vote (50%+1) for a proposed constitutional amendment to be adopted. In Nevada, a simple majority vote is required for all constitutional amendments, however, initiated constitutional amendments must be approved by voters at two successive general elections. 55% supermajority Colorado: Per Amendment 71—a citizen initiative approved in 2016—constitutional amendments require a 55% supermajority vote for approval. Amendments that do nothing but remove language from the constitution are exempted from the 55% supermajority requirement. Three-fifths (60%) supermajority Florida: Constitutional amendments in Florida (citizen initiated and legislatively referred) must receive a supermajority vote of 60% of those voting on the question, according to Section 5 of Article XI. This change was made via Amendment 3 in 2006. Illinois: Legislatively referred constitutional amendments must receive a supermajority vote of 60% of those voting on the question or a majority of those who cast a ballot for any office in that election. Two-thirds (66.67%) supermajority New Hampshire: A proposed amendment must be approved by 2/3rds of those voting in order to become part of the state's constitution. Other Hawaii: Constitutional amendments must be approved by a majority of the votes cast for the question, as long as the majority also is at least 50% of the total votes cast in the entire election. For measures approved at special elections by a majority of votes cast for the question, the majority must be at least 30% of the total number of registered voters in the state at the time. Tennessee: A proposed amendment in Tennessee must earn a majority of those voting on the amendment, and a majority of votes cast for governor. Nebraska: A proposed amendment becomes part of the Nebraska Constitution if it wins a majority vote and it wins the votes of at least 35% of those voting in the election for any office. Massachusetts: A proposed amendment can be passed by majority vote, provided that the total number of votes cast on the initiative equals at least 30% of the total votes cast in the election. Mississippi: An amendment is considered approved if it receives a majority vote, as long as the total number of votes cast on the measure equals at least 40% of the total votes cast in the election. Minnesota: Proposed constitutional amendments in Minnesota require majority approval from all voters casting a ballot in the election. In other words, leaving a constitutional amendment question blank on the ballot is equivalent to voting against it. Wyoming: Proposed constitutional amendments in Wyoming require majority approval from all voters casting a ballot in the election. In other words, leaving a constitutional amendment question blank on the ballot is equivalent to voting against it.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the North Dakota Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority vote is required in both the North Dakota State Senate and the North Dakota House of Representatives.

This amendment was introduced as Senate Concurrent Resolution 4005 on January 18, 2021. The Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 39-7 on February 22, 2021. All 39 yes votes came from Senate Republicans. The 14 no votes came from six Democrats and one Republican. The amendment was not passed in the second chamber before the legislature adjourned on April 30, 2021.

Vote in the North Dakota State Senate February 22, 2021
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 24  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	39	7	1
Total percent	82.97%	14.89%	2.13%
Democrat	0	6	1
Republican	39	1	0

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Supermajority requirements on the ballot
• Direct democracy measures on the ballot

North Dakota

• North Dakota ballot measures
• North Dakota ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Senate Concurrent Resolution 4005