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North Dakota

North Dakota Democrats hope to take back congressional seats from GOP. Here’s what to expect on Tuesday.

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North Dakota Democrats hope to take back congressional seats from GOP. Here’s what to expect on Tuesday.


North Dakota’s poll on Tuesday affords some intrigue within the reliably purple state — from late congressional entries by unbiased candidates to time period limits and marijuana legalization.

Voters will determine whether or not to endorse altering the state structure to restrict the phrases of the governor and state legislators. The citizen-led initiative would add a brand new article to the state structure that limits lawmakers to eight cumulative years every within the Home and Senate. The governor couldn’t be elected greater than twice.

One other citizen-led initiative additionally will put the query of marijuana legalization earlier than voters, who rejected the thought 4 years in the past.

NORTH DAKOTA AG SAYS POLL WORKERS IN THE STATE CANNOT DEMAND PROOF OF US CITIZENSHIP

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The initiative would enable folks 21 and older to legally use marijuana at house in addition to possess and domesticate restricted quantities of hashish. The state might register as much as seven marijuana manufacturing companies and 18 dispensaries.

Former Miss America Cara Mund certified to look on as an unbiased candidate for North Dakota’s sole U.S. Home seat. The Republican incumbent, Kelly Armstrong, is searching for a 3rd time period. Mund entered the race in August and stated her assist for abortion rights motivated her candidacy. Democrat Mark Haugen give up the race, citing strain from some in his personal occasion to make approach for Mund.

GOP state Rep. Rick Becker defected from his occasion by assembly the signature requirement to be listed on the poll as an unbiased, difficult U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, who was first elected to the Senate in 2010 after serving as governor for a decade. Becker, a Bismarck plastic surgeon, narrowly misplaced the Republican endorsement to Hoeven in April.

Democrat Katrina Christiansen, a political newcomer and College of Jamestown engineering professor, additionally will seem on the poll.

Democrats haven’t had a majority within the state Home or Senate or held the governor’s workplace because the early Nineties. Democrats held all three of North Dakota’s seats in Congress from 1987 to 2011, however the GOP now holds all of them.

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North Dakota has 47 legislative districts. Every is represented by two Home members and a senator, who’re elected at giant for four-year phrases. Republicans have 80 Home seats to Democrats’ 14, and the GOP has a 40-7 edge within the Senate. Ninety-eight of the Legislature’s 141 seats are on the poll due partially to redistricting that was required as a consequence of inhabitants shifts proven by the 2020 federal census. All however one Democrat is up for reelection this yr.

Contests for secretary of state, lawyer common and different state workplaces additionally will seem on the poll.

NORTH DAKOTA’S REPUBLICAN LEGISLATIVE MAJORITY LEADERS PREDICT VOTERS TO STRIKE DOWN TERM LIMIT

The previous Miss America Cara Mund is operating in opposition to incumbent Kelly Armstrong within the conservative state of North Dakota. Mund was prompted to run as a consequence of her assist of abortion rights within the state.
(AP Picture/James MacPherson)

Right here’s a have a look at what to anticipate on election night time:

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Election Evening

Most polls shut at 7 p.m. native time (9 p.m. ET).

How North Dakota Votes

Most North Dakotans vote in individual. Some counties additionally enable for early in-person voting Traditionally, solely about one-third of residents vote by mail. North Dakota is the one state with out voter registration. Any U.S. citizen over the age of 18 who has lived in a particular precinct for at the very least 30 days might vote with required identification, which features a state-issued driver’s license, state ID card, tribal ID or long-term care ID certificates.

A voter who’s standing in line on the time the polls shut can be allowed to vote.

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Resolution Notes

The AP doesn’t make projections and can solely declare a winner when it’s decided there is no such thing as a state of affairs that may enable the trailing candidates to shut the hole.

Ought to a candidate declare victory or provide a concession earlier than the AP calls a race, we’ll cowl newsworthy developments in our reporting. In doing so, we’ll clarify that the AP has not declared a winner and clarify why.

The AP might name a statewide or U.S. Home race through which the margin between the highest two candidates is 0.5% or much less, if we decide the lead is simply too giant for a recount to alter the result.

NORTH DAKOTA TRIBAL GOVERNOR PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY

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The AP is not going to name down-ballot races on election night time if the margin between the highest two candidates is lower than 2% or if the main candidate is inside 2% of the 50% runoff threshold. The AP will revisit these races later within the week to substantiate there aren’t sufficient excellent votes left to depend that might change the result.

What Else Ought to I Know?

Q: What Did We Be taught From the Major?

A: Not a lot. That is as a result of primaries more and more have did not settle who finally finally ends up on the November poll and this yr isn’t any totally different, with the last-minute entries of Becker and Mund and the withdrawal of the Democratic U.S. Home candidate.

Q: What’s Modified For the reason that Pandemic Election of 2020?

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A: Secretary of State Al Jaeger stated a number of counties added poll drop bins at the moment and plenty of of them stay.

Q: What Do Turnout and Advance Vote Look Like?

A: As of Oct. 26, about 53% of the practically 37,000 absentee and vote-by-mail ballots had been returned. There are about 590,000 North Dakotans eligible to vote on this election. Turnout traditionally is round 25%.

Q: How Lengthy Does Counting Often Take?

A: The majority of the ballots are counted inside just a few hours after the polls have closed.

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Q: What Occurs After Tuesday?

A: Candidates might request a recount if their dropping margin is greater than one-half of 1% of the most important variety of votes solid for the workplace, and fewer than 2% of that complete. They have to submit a bond to cowl the recount expense.



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North Dakota

Reliance of North Dakota producers on migrant workers

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Reliance of North Dakota producers on migrant workers


MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – Farmers and ranchers work with their hands, but sometimes the biggest issue is not having enough.

President-elect Donald Trump will soon be taking office and bringing changes to immigration laws.

When needing an extra hand, producers seek assistance from migrant workers.

These workers go through the H-2A program, granting temporary employment for performing agricultural labor.

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Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring said in 2023, North Dakota received 4,600 migrant workers, and that number is expected to grow.

“The margins are even slimmer, so now you have to produce more and you have to produce more acres because of what’s happened with family living,” said Goehring.

He said concerns in the agriculture community aren’t necessarily about immigration, but rather with the Department of Labor, with producers facing lengthy wait periods for paperwork to go through.

“I brought these issues to Sonny Perdue, the Secretary of Agriculture at that time, he actually helped streamline the process,” said Goehring.

He said the public sometimes conflates the issues of illegal immigration and of legal migrants following the correct steps to work here.

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“Sometimes the public doesn’t quite understand that, so they think H-2A workers are some of the illegals that are coming across the border. They’re not,” said Goehring.

Goehring added he hopes issues with backlogs in the Labor Department will change when the new administration takes over.

Goehring also addressed the concern of migrant workers taking jobs from American citizens.

He said the processes migrants and employers go through allows plenty of opportunities for American citizens to apply and be hired.

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North Dakota bill targets Game and Fish Department’s CWD management efforts

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North Dakota bill targets Game and Fish Department’s CWD management efforts


BISMARCK – A bill introduced Monday, Jan. 13, in the North Dakota Legislature would prevent the Game and Fish Department from using hunting and fishing license dollars or application fees for research or management related to chronic wasting disease.

Introduced by

Reps. Bill Tveit, R-Hazen,

and

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Dori Hauck, R-Hebron,

HB 1236

would require that the department use license and application fees only for programs and administration not related to CWD.

“Hunting and fishing license fees and application fees … may be used only for department programs and administration unrelated to chronic wasting disease,” the bill states.

Sens.

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Mark Enget, R-Powers Lake,

and

Paul Thomas, R-Velva,

are carrying the legislation in the Senate.

The bill marks the

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second proposed legislation so far this session

to limit the Game and Fish Department in its efforts to manage CWD, a neurological disease that is always fatal to deer, elk and moose. On Jan. 7,

Sen. Keith Boehm, R-Mandan,

introduced

SB 2137,

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a bill that would prevent the Game and Fish Department from prohibiting or restricting the use of supplemental feed on private land – a practice more commonly known as baiting – for big game hunting. A similar bill was introduced during the 2023 legislative session and overwhelmingly passed the House before being narrowly defeated in the Senate during the closing days of the session.

SB 2137 has its first committee hearing at 10:20 a.m. Friday, Jan. 17, before the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee. Anyone interested in

submitting testimony on the bill

can do so on the North Dakota legislative branch website at ndlegis.gov and doing a search for SB 2137 in the “Find a bill” window. A hearing for HB 1236 hadn’t been scheduled as of Tuesday morning.

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Brad Dokken joined the Herald company in November 1985 as a copy editor for Agweek magazine and has been the Grand Forks Herald’s outdoors editor since 1998.

Besides his role as an outdoors writer, Dokken has an extensive background in northwest Minnesota and Canadian border issues and provides occasional coverage on those topics.

Reach him at bdokken@gfherald.com, by phone at (701) 780-1148 or on X (formerly Twitter) at @gfhoutdoor.





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Bill proposes new office to regulate guardianships across North Dakota

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Bill proposes new office to regulate guardianships across North Dakota


BISMARCK — North Dakota legislators heard testimony on a bill that would overhaul the way guardianships and conservatorships are overseen — something the judiciary has been working toward for more than a decade.

Senate Bill 2029

would create an Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship with broad powers to oversee such matters statewide. The office would license and maintain a registry of professional guardians and conservators, set regulations and policies, oversee legal and disciplinary actions, and manage state funding for guardianship and conservatorship programs.

Those in support of the bill believe it will address the shortage of guardians and conservators facing North Dakota while enforcing greater accountability. Those in opposition to the bill are concerned it will syphon funds from existing programs.

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Chief Justice Jon Jensen said the creation of the Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship was a main priority of the legislative session for the state Supreme Court during his recent

State of the Judiciary address.

According to South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland, who testified in favor of the bill, the state currently has no licensing program for professional guardians and conservators, making it difficult to monitor who is claiming to be a professional and what their qualifications are.

South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland gives testimony during a hearing about Senate Bill 2029, which proposes an Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship, in the Peace Garden Room at the North Dakota Capitol on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.

Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune

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President of the Guardianship Association of North Dakota Margo Haut, who testified against the bill, said that guardians are already required to obtain a national certification from the Center of Guardianship Certification and must be certified by the state courts system to act as a guardian in North Dakota.

Feland said the licensing component of the bill is important because complaints against guardians and conservators are handled on a case-by-case basis in the court system. Feland said this has created instances in which a professional guardian is removed from a case for misconduct without any mechanism to investigate other cases they are handling. The proposed bill would fix this, according to the judge.

“If we now have a procedure for licensing and we can remove them, then notification goes throughout the state to all of the district courts that this person’s license has been revoked,” she said.

If a guardian’s license is revoked, Feland said the Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship would be able to find other guardians to step in and take over the cases from the de-licensed guardian.

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Donna Byzewski is the program director of the corporate guardianship program for people with intellectual disabilities at Catholic Charities North Dakota. She said during her neutral testimony that she was concerned the budgets of guardianship services would be devastated by legal costs when guardians were brought before the proposed office’s review board.

Byzewski did, however, say the bill would give the court tools to protect people in the case of exploitation or neglect by a guardian and remove the offending guardian in a timely manner, something that has taken months — if not years — to accomplish previously.

Feland said the judiciary is already preparing to implement the office should the bill pass.

“I don’t wait for this stuff to pass. We’re doing it now. So as we are speaking right now, we are actually putting together the rules for the Supreme Court to create these things” Feland said. “This is a problem that’s been there for over a decade and is getting worse. So the best way, then, to resolve it is to start doing these things right away.”





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