North Dakota Constitutional Measure 2, Single-Subject Requirement for Initiatives and Require Constitutional Initiatives to be Passed Twice Amendment (2024)

North Dakota Single-Subject Requirement for Initiatives and Require Constitutional Initiatives to be Passed Twice Amendment
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic Direct democracy measures
Status d Defeated
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The North Dakota Single-Subject Requirement for Initiatives and Require Constitutional Initiatives to be Passed Twice Amendment was on the ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. It was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to:  establish a single-subject rule for initiatives (both statutory and constitutional), as determined by the secretary of state; increase the signature requirement for constitutional amendment initiatives from 4% of the resident population to 5% of the resident population of the state; and require proposed constitutional initiatives that have qualified for the ballot to be placed on the next primary election ballot, and, if approved, be placed on the next general election ballot, where it must be approved again to become effective.

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to adopt a single-subject rule for initiatives and make changes to the signature requirement and election process for citizen-initiated constitutional initiatives.

Election results

North Dakota Constitutional Measure 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		150,362	43.59%
No		194,570	56.41%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What would the amendment have changed?

See also: Text of measure

This amendment would have made changes to the state's initiative process and requirements, including:

• establishing a single-subject rule for initiatives (both statutory and constitutional), as determined by the North Dakota Secretary of State;
• increasing the signature requirement for constitutional amendment initiatives from 4% of the resident population to 5% of the resident population of the state; and
• requiring proposed constitutional initiatives that have qualified for the ballot to be placed on the next primary election ballot in June, and, if approved, be placed on the next general election ballot in November, where it must be approved again to become effective.

What is a single-subject rule and what states have them?

See also: Single-subject rule

A single-subject rule is a state law that requires ballot initiatives to address a single subject, topic, or issue. There are 26 states that provide for at least one type of statewide citizen-initiated measure. Of those 26 states, 17 have single-subject rules. As of 2023, North Dakota was one of nine states that provide for at least one type of statewide citizen-initiated measure and that did not have a single-subject rule. The last ballot measure to provide for a single-subject rule for initiatives was Arizona Proposition 129, which was approved by a vote of 55% of voters in favor and 45% opposed.

Do other states require initiated amendments to be approved at two consecutive elections?

See also: State initiated amendment processes and Nevada double election requirement

Nevada is the only state where initiated constitutional amendments must be approved at two consecutive elections. This does not apply to legislatively referred constitutional amendments, which must be approved twice by the legislature (with a majority vote) but only once by the state’s voters. Since the double election requirement was created in 1962, there have been 15 citizen-initiated constitutional amendments that passed at the first election and appeared on the ballot again at the next election. Of the 15 measures, 13 were passed at their second elections (86.66%) and two failed (13.33%). Question 9 (1982) was rejected with 58.77% of the vote after it was approved with 70.31% of the vote in 1980. Question 3 (2018) was rejected with 67.05% of the vote after it was approved with 72.36% of the vote in 2016.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the amendment was as follows:

“

This constitutional measure would amend and reenact sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 of article III of the Constitution of North Dakota, relating to initiated constitutional amendments. The proposed amendments would require both constitutional and non-constitutional initiated measures to be limited to one subject as determined by the Secretary of State, who may not approve the initiated petition if it comprises more than one subject; require that measure sponsors be qualified electors; require that only qualified electors may circulate a petition; require petition signers to provide a complete residential address; and increase the number of signatures required to place a constitutional initiated measure on the ballot from four percent to five percent of the North Dakota resident population. Additionally, the proposed amendments would require that constitutional initiated measures approved by the Secretary of State be voted upon by the voters at the next primary election and, if approved by a majority of the voters, voted upon at the general election immediately following the primary election; if the measure fails at either the primary or general election, the measure is deemed failed. The estimated fiscal impact of this measure is none. Yes – Means you approve the measure as summarized above. No – Means you reject the measure as summarized above.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article III, North Dakota Constitution

The measure would have amended sections 2, 3, 4, and 9 of Article III of the state constitution. The following struck-through text would have been deleted and underlined text would have been added.

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

Section 2. An initiated measure may not embrace or be comprised of more than one subject, as determined by the secretary of state. A petition to initiate or to refer a measure must be presented to the secretary of state for approval as to form and compliance with the single subject requirement. A request for approval must be presented over the names and signatures of twenty-five or more qualified electors as sponsors, one of whom must be designated as chairman of the sponsoring committee. The secretary of state shall approve the petition for circulation if it is in proper form and contains the names and addresses of the sponsors and the full text of the measure.

The legislative assembly may provide by law for a procedure through which the legislative council may establish an appropriate method for determining the fiscal impact of an initiative measure and for making the information regarding the fiscal impact of the measure available to the public.

Section 3. The petition shall may be circulated only by qualified electors. They An individual circulating a petition shall swear thereon that the qualified electors who have signed the petition did so in their presence. Each qualified elector signing a petition also shall also write in the date of signing andhis post-office the qualified elector's complete residential address. No A law shall may not be enacted limiting the number of copies of a petition. The copies shall must become part of the original petition when filed.

Section 4. The petition may be submitted to the secretary of state if signed by qualified electors equal in number to two percent of the resident population of the state at the last federal decennial census.

Section 9. A constitutional amendment may be proposed by initiative petition. The petition may be circulated only by qualified electors. The proposed amendment may not embrace or be comprised of more than one subject, as determined by the secretary of state, and the secretary of state may not approve the initiative petition for circulation if the proposed amendment comprises more than one subject. If signed by qualified electors equal in number to four five percent of the resident population of the state at the last federal decennial census, the petition may be submitted to the secretary of state. If the secretary of state finds the petition is valid, the secretary of state shall place the measure on the ballot at the next primary election. If the majority of the votes cast on the measure are affirmative in the primary election, the measure must be placed on the ballot at the general election immediately following the primary election for final consideration. If a majority of votes cast for a proposed constitutional amendment are affirmative in the general election, the measure is deemed enacted. If the measure fails to receive the required number of votes to enact the measure at either the primary election or the general election, the measure is deemed failed. All other provisions relating to initiative measures apply hereto to initiative measures for constitutional amendments.

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 15, and the FRE is 25. The word count for the ballot title is 205.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. David Hogue (R)
• State Sen. Janne Myrdal (R)
• State Rep. Mike Lefor (R)

Arguments

• Sen. David Hogue (R): "It’s really not fair to the voters to introduce three or four different subjects in the same measure. Amending our state constitution should not be a Sunday walk in the park, so we think people should have a chance to vote on it and really decide if they want to pass this and impose this on generations to come."

Opposition

Voter Defense Association of ND Committee registered to oppose the measure.

Opponents

Former Officials

• Former Gov. Ed Schafer

Organizations

• Democracy Docket

Arguments

• Democracy Docket: "The proposed amendment is part of a trend of Republican-controlled states moving to restrict the ballot measure process in recent years. Voters in many states have used the process to enact policies over the objections of Republican legislators, such as protections for reproductive freedoms, minimum wage increases and Medicaid expansion."
• Ed Schafer (R), former governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture: "Legislators go too far, they overreach. People say the pendulum swings, hey we went too far let’s pull it back. Then it swings the other way and then people say its gone too far the other way, let’s pull it back. And you need that correction mechanism in there. You need that ability for people to say, we can get together and we can direct our government, not just the legislators"
• Robert Harms, former chairperson of the North Dakota Republican Party: "It handcuffs citizens, it handcuffs people to address constitutional changes that they want to make by the 5% mechanism and having two campaigns to go through. But if I’m a big money interest organization from California, I can pay for signature gatherers. I can go through two campaigns to get the constitutional changes that I’m looking for."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for North Dakota ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Voter Defense Association of ND Committee registered to oppose the measure. The committee had not yet reported campaign finance activity.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls and 2024 ballot measure polls

Are you aware of a poll on this ballot measure that should be included below? You can share ballot measure polls, along with source links, with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

North Dakota Constitutional Measure 2, Single-Subject Requirement for Initiatives and Require Constitutional Initiatives to be Passed Twice Amendment (2024)
Poll	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Support	Oppose	Undecided

North Dakota News Cooperative, WPA Intelligence	09/28/2024-9/30/2024	500 RV	± 4.4%	38%	28%	34%
	Question: "A Constitutional measure that would require initiated measures to be limited to one subject, measure sponsors and petition circulators to be qualified electors and petition signers to provide a complete residential address. It would also require voters to approve measures in two separate elections."

North Dakota News Cooperative, WPA Intelligence	11/5/2023-11/7/2023	517 LV	± 4.3%	36%	48%	18%
	Question: "Do you support or oppose changing the North Dakota Constitution to require constitutional amendments to pass twice — in consecutive elections — to become law?"

Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters.

Background

Single-subject rule

See also: Single-subject rule

The single-subject rule is a state law that requires ballot initiatives to address a single subject, topic, or issue. There are 26 states that provide for at least one type of statewide citizen-initiated measure. Of those 26 states, 16 have single-subject rules.

The following map provides a visual illustration of which states have an initiative and referendum process and a single-subject rule for citizen-initiated measures.

To read more about states with single-subject requirements, click here.

Recent single-subject rule ballot measures

See also: Direct democracy ballot measures

2022

See also: Arizona Proposition 129, Single-Subject Requirement for Ballot Initiatives Amendment (2022)

In 2022, voters in Arizona approved Proposition 129, which required citizen-initiated ballot measures to embrace a single subject. Prior to Proposition 129, Arizona did not have a single-subject rule for ballot initiatives. The Arizona State Legislature referred Proposition 129 to the ballot.

2018

See also: South Dakota Constitutional Amendment Z and Changes in 2018 to laws governing ballot measures

South Dakota voters approved Amendment Z in November 2018. Amendment Z enacted a single-subject rule for constitutional amendments—including both initiated constitutional amendments and legislatively referred constitutional amendments. It did not enact a single-subject rule for initiated state statutes. Prior to November 2018, South Dakota did not feature a single-subject rule for any type of statewide ballot measure. Amendment Z was referred to the ballot by the legislature, which voted on it largely along partisan lines, with all but five Republican legislators voting in favor of it and all but two Democratic legislators voting against it. The state legislature also passed a bill in 2018—House Bill 1007—that enacted a single-subject rule for initiated state statutes, thus applying a single-subject rule to all citizen initiatives in the state.

State processes for initiated constitutional amendments

An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments. Proponents of a ballot initiative collect petition signatures from a certain minimum number of registered voters in a state.

The 18 states that provide for initiated constitutional amendments are:

Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Illinois

Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska

Nevada North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon South Dakota

An initiated constitutional amendment (ICA) can be direct or indirect. Of the 18 states that provide for initiated constitutional amendments, these measures are direct in 16 states and indirect in two states - Massachusetts and Mississippi. While a direct initiative goes to voters, an indirect initiative goes to the state legislature, which can take various actions on the proposal, before voters. You can read more about indirect initiated constitutional amendments here.

Note on Mississippi:

Mississippi has an initiated constitutional amendment process, including a signature distribution requirement based on five congressional districts. However, the requirements cannot be met, according to the Mississippi Supreme Court, because the state has four congressional districts following reapportionment in 2001. As a result, the process remains part of the state constitution but cannot be carried out in practice.

Nevada double-election requirement

Nevada is the only state where initiated constitutional amendments must be approved at two consecutive elections. This does not apply to legislatively referred constitutional amendments, which must be approved twice by the legislature (with a majority vote) but only once by the state’s voters. Since the double election requirement was created in 1962, there have been 15 citizen-initiated constitutional amendments that passed at the first election and appeared on the ballot again at the next election. Of the 15 measures, 13 were passed at their second elections (86.66%) and two failed (13.33%). Question 9 (1982) was rejected with 58.77% of the vote after it was approved with 70.31% of the vote in 1980. Question 3 (2018) was rejected with 67.05% of the vote after it was approved with 72.36% of the vote in 2016.

Constitutional amendments in North Dakota

Referred amendments

From 1996 through 2022, the state legislature referred 37 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 24 and rejected 13 of the referred amendments. All of the amendments were referred to the ballot during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on the ballot was about three. The approval rate of referred amendments at the ballot box was 64.86% from 1996 through 2022. The rejection rate was 35.14%. The following table contains data for referred amendments during even-numbered election years from 1996 through 2022:

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2022
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
37	24	64.86%	13	35.14%	3	2	0	8

Initiated amendments

From 1996 through 2022, 17 initiated constitutional amendments appeared on the ballot. Voters approved 10 (58.82%) and rejected 7 (41.18%) of the proposed amendments. All of the amendments were on the ballot during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on the ballot was about one. The following table contains data for initiated constitutional amendments during even-numbered election years from 1996 through 2022:

Citizen initiated constitutional amendments, 1996-2022
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
17	10	58.82%	7	41.18%	1.2	1	0	5

Signature requirements for North Dakota initiatives

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in North Dakota

Since North Dakota does not have a voter registration system, the number of signatures required is tied to the population reported by the last decennial census. For statutes and veto referendums, the number of signatures required is 2% of the population. For constitutional amendments, it is 4% of the population.

The chart below shows election years and the signature requirement for initiatives designed to appear on the ballot in that year, with decennial census years bolded. In 2021, the population of North Dakota was reported as 779,100. Signature requirements will be recalculated after the 2030 decennial census and will trigger changes in the number of required signatures beginning in 2032.

Year	Constitutional amendment	Initiated statute	Veto referendum
2022	31,164	15,582	15,582
2020	26,904	13,452	13,452
2018	26,904	13,452	13,452
2016	26,904	13,452	13,452
2014	26,904	13,452	13,452
2012	26,904	13,452	13,452
2010	25,688	12,844	12,844
2008	25,688	12,844	12,844

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 4013 on January 23, 2023. The Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 44-3 on February 21, 2023. The House passed an amended version of the bill on March 23 in a vote of 73-18 and returned the bill to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate concurred with the House's amendments on April 10, 2023, by a voice vote.

Vote in the North Dakota State Senate February 21, 2023
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 24  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	44	3	0
Total percent	93.62%	6.38%	0.0%
Democrat	2	2	0
Republican	42	1	0

Vote in the North Dakota House of Representatives March 23, 2023
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 48  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	73	18	3
Total percent	78.72%	19.15%	3.19%
Democrat	1	10	1
Republican	72	8	2

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
• 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 4013