North Dakota GOP voters to choose nominee for state’s top election official

Michael Howe, of West Fargo, and Marvin Lepp, of Bismarck, are candidates for the nomination in Tuesday’s main election. The winner will face Democrat Jeffrey Powell, of Grand Forks, within the November normal election. Longtime Republican incumbent Al Jaeger will not be working. He was first elected in 1992.

Howe, whom the get together endorsed, is a farmer and a state consultant first elected in 2016. Lepp is an automotive service adviser with a various resume. 

The secretary’s workplace has 33 workers and a two-year finances of about $14 million. It oversees elections; tracks marketing campaign spending experiences; registers lobbyists; and licenses companies, residence inspectors, contractors, notaries public, nonprofit teams and different organizations. It maintains a central indexing system of liens towards crops, actual property and different property, and is a repository for emblems and commerce names.

The secretary of state’s annual wage is $114,486.

Former President Donald Trump continues to push baseless claims of election fraud as the rationale for his reelection loss in 2020. The 2021 Legislature dealt with greater than 40 voting-related payments within the wake of the 2020 election, a pattern nationwide.

Secretary of state is North Dakota’s high election official.

Howe mentioned, “We’ve got to realize the general public’s belief again in our election course of.” He advocates training about North Dakota’s election administration, having encountered individuals who have confused the voting course of with these of different states.

He referred to as North Dakota’s voting system “a fantastic course of.” He helps public service bulletins, voting machine demonstrations, “no matter it takes to realize that belief again in our election course of, let’s do it.”

Howe mentioned that if elected his focus when weighing in on election laws could be, “Does it make it simpler to vote and more durable to cheat? If we are able to obtain these two issues in taking a look at election coverage, I feel that might be paramount to setting our course of shifting ahead.”

Lepp mentioned his “before everything” precedence could be election integrity, or “the precise analysis of our elections to guarantee that each county, each precinct is run with the identical method.”

He mentioned, “There’s too many questions relating to the 2020 election,” citing “discrepancies” he is present in North Dakota associated to voter turnout and addresses. He provided an instance of a voter with a avenue handle in a single county however a submit workplace field in one other county.

“There’s too many variables that should be fastened, and nationally, it is onerous to say what occurred nationally,” Lepp mentioned.

Howe is a Casselton-area farmer who was agriculture coverage adviser for former U.S. Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D. 

He subsequently did coverage communication work for the North Dakota Corn Growers Affiliation, then got here again to the household farm operation in 2013. He was elected to a District 22 Home seat in 2016, representing rural Cass County and serving on the highly effective Home Appropriations Committee. 

He cites his enterprise and farming background and legislative expertise in his bid for workplace.

Howe calls the secretary of state’s workplace a “customer support workplace.” He’d just like the workplace to play a task in serving to the state’s financial system diversify, being a “entrance door” for brand spanking new companies.

“If it is simple to begin a enterprise right here in North Dakota, we are able to carry individuals in to the state they usually’ll say, ‘Hey, that wasn’t so unhealthy, that was fairly straightforward,’” he mentioned. “And mix that in with our low tax construction and our steady regulatory surroundings … making that as seamless as attainable and actually saying, ‘Hey, North Dakota is a simple place to do enterprise, it is a simple place to begin a enterprise.’”

He commends Jaeger for rolling out the workplace’s on-line FirstStop enterprise hub in 2019, however sees extra work to do for modernizing workplace expertise, similar to making the secretary’s web site “extra user-friendly.”

Lepp touts his background in his candidacy, having “worn loads of hats through the years” and being “very detail-orientated.”

The Lehr native has labored as a company coach for Perkins, and for a short while owned a small enterprise promoting playing cards, comics and toys. After that, he labored in stock management and as a coach for Finest Purchase. Since 2014, he is labored within the automotive trade as a service adviser. 

“I dig into topics. I have a look at the whole lot from each side. I do not routinely soar to conclusions as a result of earlier than I communicate to one thing, I need to have the ability to show it,” Lepp mentioned. 

The final two years he is “spent a considerable amount of time in our North Dakota Century Code” for chatting with native authorities boards about pandemic restrictions, he mentioned.

“My issues had been extra associated to why had been the mandates being offered as a one-size-fits-all remedy and there was no acknowledgement of bodily, psychological, emotional disabilities that stops somebody from working as a result of they’re having to decide on between their worker and the mandate?” he mentioned.

“And from there, it expanded ahead by way of the final legislative session — totally different teams had me assist with drafting a invoice that acquired that ahead, deciphering Century Code to assist them guarantee that what they had been presenting to legislators to be introduced ahead was correct.”

He declined to specify the laws, saying the invoice’s sponsors within the Legislature can “hold their credit score.” He mentioned he tries “to stay as impartial as I can after I’m requested to assist with stuff like that as a result of you may’t write a bit of laws primarily based on emotion” or response.

Lepp mentioned he is working to “serve the individuals of North Dakota full time” after contemplating working for native or legislative places of work.

He expects the subsequent secretary of state will carry “a fairly drastic revamp to the system,” with Jaeger having served 30 years. 

Lepp mentioned he would additionally concentrate on streamlining enterprise registration and different workplace features, together with the secretary’s web site to make it extra mobile-friendly and accessible for its features, similar to offering how-to movies. 

Lepp has a number of collections towards him in state district court docket and a previous tax lien. He mentioned all of these points have been resolved.

The tax lien associated to baby assist and was resolved about 10 years in the past, he mentioned. The collections associated to a financial institution’s “unhealthy recommendation” in his enterprise closing, an misguided “double fee” for school, and a small claims settlement after his enterprise closed, he mentioned.

The Tribune additionally carried out a background verify on Howe.