BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota voters Tuesday rejected a higher bar to amend the state constitution.
“No” votes for Measure 1 led “yes” votes by a margin of about 56% to 44%, according to complete but unofficial results. Measure 1 was for a 60% threshold for voters to approve future constitutional amendments.
The measure’s defeat is a blow to North Dakota’s Republican-led Legislature, which put the measure on the ballot.
Lawmakers for years have tried to make it harder to change the constitution. They met with little success until June, when voters approved a single-subject requirement for future amendments.
Supporters, including Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, said North Dakota’s constitution is too easy to change, citing out-of-state organizations with lots of money to spend on whatever ballot initiative they support. Armstrong also said constitutionally mandated spending concerns him.
House Speaker Robin Weisz, who sponsored the measure in the Legislature, said he is disappointed and not surprised by Measure 1’s defeat, citing the money spent in opposition.
“My personal opinion – many of the ads were quite deceptive and confusing to the voters,” said Weisz, R-Hurdsfield.
Measure 1 saw millions of dollars in spending from both sides. The major players were the Washington, D.C.-based Fairness Project, which contributed more than $1.9 million in opposition, and the Armstrong-aligned StrongND Fund, which spent more than $1.5 million in support.
Opponents said the higher threshold would make it harder for voters to enact changes they want, and would effectively hand a veto to a minority of voters as small as 40% plus one vote.
A simple majority to amend the state constitution has worked for more than 100 years, said League of Women Voters of North Dakota President Kathy Tweeten, who opposed the measure.
“The Legislature has tried to change that several times, and I think the people have spoken again,” Tweeten said.
Bismarck voter Ronda Wamsley said she voted against Measure 1 because a simple majority is good enough. It is not the Legislature’s place to raise the bar, she said.
“I think they’re trying to make it harder and harder for somebody to get something passed,” Wamsley said.
The vast majority of constitutional amendments in recent years have passed with more than 60% support, such as ones creating the Legacy Fund, gubernatorial and legislative term limits and a congressional age limit. Some measures have even had more than 80% support.
Some anti-abortion proponents said the 60% threshold would be a roadblock to a potential future abortion rights initiative they say the Fairness Project or another outside organization would support.
The Fairness Project has no plans to run an abortion rights initiative in North Dakota in 2028, Executive Director Hannah Ledford said in a statement Tuesday.
Voters in neighboring South Dakota had a similar 60% measure.
Reach North Dakota Monitor reporter Jack Dura at [email protected].
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