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North Dakota Legislative Member Appointment to a State Office, Constitutional Measure 1 (2008)
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The North Dakota Legislative Member Appointment to a State Office Referendum, also known as Constitutional Measure 1, was on the June 3, 2008 ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was defeated.[1] The measure would have removed the prohibition on appointing a member of the legislative assembly to any appointive state office established by the state’s constitution or designated by state law for which the compensation was increased by the legislative assembly during that member’s term of office.[2]
Election results
| North Dakota Constitutional Measure 1 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 48,644 | 57.55% | ||
| Yes | 35,888 | 42.45% | ||
Election results via: North Dakota Secretary of State, Official Vote of General Election, 2008
Text of measure
Ballot title
The language appeared on the ballot as:[3]
| “ | This ballot contains one constitutional measure approved by the 2007 Legislative Assembly. It is being submitted to the voters of North Dakota for their approval or rejection. Vote by darkening the oval opposite either the word “YES” or “NO” following the summary.
This constitutional measure would amend section 6 of article IV of the North Dakota Constitution. It would remove the prohibition on appointing a member of the legislative assembly to an office for which the compensation was increased by the legislative assembly during that member’s term of office. YES – Means you approve the measure as summarized above. NO – Means you reject the measure as summarized above. [4] |
” |
Constitutional changes
The measure would have made the following amendments to Section 6 of Article IV of the North Dakota Constitution with the underlined text being added and the crossed out text being removed:[5]
| Section 6. While serving in the legislative assembly, no member may hold any full-time appointive state office established by this constitution or designated by law. During the term for which elected, no member of the legislative assembly may be appointed to any full-time office |
Support
Representatives DeKrey, Berg and Boucher sponsored the referral in the house. Senators Nething, O'Connell and Stenehjem sponsored it in the senate.[5]
Gov. John Hoeven supported the measure. His reasoning was that when he was looking for people to appoint to the tax commission and the state's Supreme Court in 2005, he was barred by the state constitution from considering sitting state legislators for these offices.[6]
Opposition
David O'Connell, D-Lansford, one of the original sponsors of the resolution to place the ballot measure on the June ballot, said in late May that he is re-considering his support because of the reaction of his constituents. "What I'm hearing is, people aren't going to support it because they think you're elected to fill out your job ... rather than having the governor appoint you to something."[6]
Path to the ballot
The North Dakota State Legislature voted to have House Concurrent Resolution No. 3016 (2007 Session Laws, Ch. 583) placed on the ballot, by a vote of 88-3 in the state house, and 40-7 in the state senate.[2] The full text of the concurrent resolution can be read here.
See also
- North Dakota 2008 ballot measures
- 2008 ballot measures
- List of North Dakota ballot measures
- History of Initiative & Referendum in North Dakota
External links
- North Dakota Secretary of State, Archived Election Results
- National Conference of State Legislatures State Ballot Measures Database
Footnotes
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State Archived Election Results, "Primary Election Results - 2008," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "ANALYSIS OF THE STATEWIDE MEASURE APPEARING ON THE BALLOT JUNE 10, 2008," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Ballot Language Measure 1," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 North Dakota Legislative Assembly, "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3016," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bismark Tribune, "N.D. measure makes it easier for legislators to get state jobs," June 1, 2008
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