North Dakota Oaths of Office Amendment, Measure 2 (2012)

Oaths of Office Amendment
Type	Constitutional amendment
Origin	North Dakota State Legislature
Topic	Administration of government
Status	a

The North Dakota Oaths of Office Amendment, Measure 2 was on the November 6, 2012 statewide ballot in North Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure required the governor and other executive officials to take an oath of office. Previously, the North Dakota Constitution did not require executive officials to take an oath.

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Tom Conklin.

Election results

See also: 2012 ballot measure election results

North Dakota Measure 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		259,497	88.74%
No		32,926	11.26%

Officials results obtained from the North Dakota Secretary of State.

Text of measure

The official ballot text read as follows:

Constitutional Measure No. 2

(House Concurrent Resolution No. 3009, 2011 Session Laws, Ch. 521)

This constitutional measure would amend and reenact section 4 of Article Xl of the North Dakota Constitution. This measure would require members of the executive branch of state government to take the oath of office as prescribed in this section.

YES — means you approve the measure summarized above.

NO — means you reject the measure summarized above.

Constitutional changes

The proposed measure amends Section 4 of Article XI of the Constitution of North Dakota.

Article XI, Section 4 would be amended to read:

Text of Section 4: Members of the legislative assembly and the executive and judicial departmentbranches, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will support the constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of North Dakota; and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of _________ according to the best of my ability, so help me God" (if an oath), (under pains and penalties of perjury) if an affirmation, and noany other oath, declaration, or test shallmay not be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

Support

No formal support was identified.

Opposition

No formal opposition was identified.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the North Dakota Constitution

According to the North Dakota Constitution an amendment proposed by either the House or the Senate requires only majority approval.

The measure was approved by the House on March 30, 2011, following a vote of 88-4. The Senate gave the final approval on April 12, 2011, with a vote of 44-3.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of events surrounding the measure:

Event	Date	Developments
Approval	Mar. 30, 2011	Measure was approved by the House following a vote of 88-4.
Final Approval	Apr. 12, 2011	The Senate gave the final approval with a vote of 44-3.

See also

• North Dakota 2012 ballot measures
• 2012 ballot measures

External links

• HCR 3009 (status)
• HCR 3009 (text)