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Prosecutor declines charges on North Dakota term limits measure petitions

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Prosecutor declines charges on North Dakota term limits measure petitions


No felony fees will consequence from petition fraud allegations that surrounded the poll measure North Dakota voters authorized final fall for time period limits on the governor and state lawmakers.

Ward County State’s Legal professional Roza Larson in January informed the state Bureau of Legal Investigation that her workplace “is not going to be pursuing felony fees.”

“There is just too many unanswered questions and inadequate proof to show the offense past an inexpensive doubt,” Larson wrote to BCI Agent Mark Nickel. “Affordable deductions, possible trigger, and appearances should not adequate at trial.”

Legal professional Basic Drew Wrigley launched Larson’s Jan. 6 letter Thursday in response to a request from the Tribune.

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Legal professional Basic Drew Wrigley

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TOM STROMME



Wrigley had referred the petition fraud investigation final yr to Ward County for potential prosecution. Ward County is house to the North Dakota State Honest in Minot, the placement of petition exercise investigators scrutinized.

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Individuals are additionally studying…

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Historical past

Organizers of a proposed measure should collect a sure variety of legitimate signatures to deliver it to a public vote.

Now-retired Secretary of State Al Jaeger in March 2022 referred the time period restrict measure’s petitions to Wrigley after rejecting about 29,000 signatures on account of alleged violations of state regulation, equivalent to probably forgeries, circulators who had been neither North Dakota certified electors nor U.S. residents, and affords or funds of bonuses to circulators, amongst different irregularities.

Jaeger rejecting the signatures initially saved the measure off the poll.

Wrigley referred the case to Ward County in July. The state crime bureau in August searched petition circulator Charles Tuttle’s Minot house, leading to no arrests however yielding 15 time playing cards. 

Larson mentioned the case lacks witnesses with firsthand information to testify to a jury, and “additionally lacking particularly is the WHO.”

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“On this matter it’s unknown, is that if these individuals had been workers of Mr. Tuttle, if he operated a enterprise, and if it was an LLC or different,” she wrote. 

The fraud allegations reached the state Supreme Courtroom in August, when measure backers sued to drive a public vote. The court docket in September ordered the measure be positioned on the poll.

The court docket discovered that Jaeger “misapplied the regulation by excluding signatures on the premise of a dedication {that a} sample of probably notary violations on some petitions permitted his invalidation of all signatures on all petitions that had been sworn earlier than the identical notary,” Justice Jerod Tufte wrote within the unanimous opinion.

The legal professional basic and secretary of state after the ruling maintained that fraud occurred within the circulation of petitions to place the time period limits measure on the poll.

Over 63% of voters in North Dakota’s November 2022 basic election authorized of Measure 1 for the time period limits of eight years every within the Senate and Home of Representatives. The governor can’t be elected to greater than two four-year phrases. The time period limits should not retroactive, which means present service would not rely towards officeholders. The time period limits took impact Jan. 1.

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Time period limits supporter Jared Hendrix, of Fargo.



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Response

Measure Chairman Jared Hendrix informed the Tribune on Thursday that Jaeger and Wrigley “finally pressured a wasteful expenditure of public funds, and compelled our hand right into a protracted, authorized battle.”

“The Supreme Courtroom noticed proper by means of the unconstitutional actions of the secretary’s resolution that violated the rights of North Dakota electors, who had affixed their signatures to the time period limits petitions,” Hendrix mentioned in a textual content message. “We had each motive throughout this course of to consider we had submitted a adequate variety of signatures, and this is only one extra indication of the tried abuse of energy to disclaim the individuals the appropriate to vote on this necessary subject.”

Tuttle mentioned, “I feel the entire thing was fraud on the a part of the secretary of state and legal professional basic.” He known as the allegations premeditated. He additionally mentioned Jaeger “by no means tried to confirm any of the signatures,” and that state officers by no means “anticipated the Supreme Courtroom doing what they did.”

In earlier statements to the Tribune Tuttle denied paying bonuses to circulators, saying “We paid on … an hourly scale. For those who reached a specific amount (of signatures), you bought paid a better hourly price.”



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Charles Tuttle

Charles Tuttle




State regulation prohibits paying or providing to pay circulators “on a foundation associated to the variety of signatures obtained for circulating an initiative, referendum, or recall petition.”

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Wrigley mentioned state’s attorneys are “independently elected by voters of their counties, they usually make the most effective judgment that they’ll based mostly on the proof. It isn’t for me to query the choice of one other independently elected prosecutor official.”

Aftermath

Just one particular person seems to have met any type of a penalty for alleged petition fraud: Zeph Toe, a notary public whose fee Jaeger revoked, citing the discovering of a state district court docket choose that “the quite a few errors contained inside Toe’s notarized petitions present probably fraud.”

North Dakota lawmakers are contemplating crafting new time period limits for themselves and to set the identical for all elected govt department officers, a proposal that will water down what voters handed by vastly extending the years one might function governor or within the Legislature.

A Home panel that superior the proposal Wednesday extensively questioned Hendrix, who appeared in opposition to Home Concurrent Decision 3019, by Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo. 

North Dakota lawmakers consider new term limits, in wake of voter-passed measure

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Notary commission yanked for player in North Dakota term limits measure

Lawmakers grilled Hendrix concerning the time period limits measure’s provisions, marketing campaign funding, spending and relationship to the nationwide group, U.S. Time period Limits, which seeks time period limits on Congress. 

Lawmakers are also eyeing proposals to tighten the method for citizen-initiated measures to amend the state structure.

Constitutional initiatives, such because the one for phrases limits and a 2018 measure that created a state Ethics Fee, have vexed lawmakers.

60% measure

Moreover, Stark County State’s Legal professional Amanda Engelstad in December declined to prosecute alleged petition fraud within the assortment of signatures to position on the poll in 2022 a measure that will have required a 60% majority vote to approve constitutional initiatives and to restrict such measures to at least one topic.

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Engelstad informed the BCI she would not consider the instances “are provable past an inexpensive doubt.” The Tribune requested and acquired her letter from Wrigley on Thursday.

Measure organizers did not problem Jaeger’s findings.

Stacker ranked essentially the most profitable states for politicians in ascending order based mostly on every state’s governor’s wage and state consultant wage, utilizing 2019 knowledge from the Council of State Governments for governor salaries and 2020 knowledge from the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures for state consultant salaries.


Attain Jack Dura at 701-223-8482 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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North Dakota

Live Vote Counts and Map: 2024 North Dakota Election Results

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Live Vote Counts and Map: 2024 North Dakota Election Results


US Election 2024

North Dakota voters will cast ballots in races for president, governor, US Senate and the state’s lone US House seat. Republicans are favored to win all four contests, according to ratings from the Cook Political Report.

Voters will also decide on a key ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana use.

Sign up for email alerts on key election results and what’s moving markets

President

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Vote Share of Leader

Dem506070% Rep

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North Dakota

3 Electoral Votes

CANDIDATE VOTES PCT
Kamala Harris Democratic 0 0%
Donald Trump Republican 0 0%
Chase Oliver Libertarian 0 0%

Governor

Vote Share of Leader

Dem506070% Rep

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North Dakota

CANDIDATE VOTES PCT
Merrill Piepkorn Democratic 0 0%
Kelly Armstrong Republican 0 0%
Michael Coachman Independent 0 0%

Senate

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Vote Share of Leader

Dem506070% Rep

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North Dakota

CANDIDATE VOTES PCT
Kevin Cramer* Republican 0 0%
Katrina Christiansen Democratic 0 0%

House

District 1

CANDIDATE VOTES PCT
Julie Fedorchak Republican 0 0%
Trygve Hammer Democratic 0 0%

Key Ballot Measures

North Dakota: Measure 5

Allow adults 21 and older to grow, possess and use marijuana for recreational purposes; create a commission to regulate production and sales

CANDIDATE VOTES PCT
Legalize recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older
Yes 0 0%
Keep marijuana possession and use illegal
No 0 0%

About This State

  • North Dakota average
  • US average

Race and Ethnicity

0 25 25 50% 50%

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Educational Attainment

0 10 10 20% 20%

Sources: American Automobile Association, US Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Note: Race and ethnicity shares are based on the Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) from the Census Bureau ACS 5-year estimates, 2018-2022. Median household incomes are based on inflation-adjusted data from January to December 2023; educational attainment shares are for the population 25 years and over, both based on the 2023 Census ACS 1-year estimates. Regional price parity for housing is calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis and represents how much more (above 100) or less (less than 100) expensive housing rent expenditures are in a state compared to the national average in 2022, the latest available year. The three largest occupations per state are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics release of Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics in 2023, the latest available data.

Latest News on 2024 US Election

By Elena Mejía Jennah Haque Marie Patino Rachael Dottle Brittany Harris Julian Burgess Alex Graves Dean Halford Armand Emamdjomeh Edited by Allan James Vestal Rachael Dottle Alex Tribou Amanda Cox Martin Keohan With assistance from Jaci Kessler Lubliner Gregory Korte Luis Daniel Palacios Peru Dayani Sam Dodge Oscar Bolton Green Steph Davidson Michelle Jamrisko Brad Skillman Alexandre Tanzi Chloe Whiteaker Vivianne Rodrigues Mark Cudmore Esha Dey Additional research by Fola Akinnibi Kelsey Butler Anna Edgerton John Gittelsohn Gregory Korte Heather Landy Nadia Lopez Danielle Moran Kathy Rizzo Fiona Rutherford
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Sources: Election results provided by the Associated Press. Additional data from US Census
Bureau, American Automobile Association, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Cook Political Report with
Amy Walter, Natural Earth, Redistricting Data Hub, US Department of Transportation, CME Group,
Bloomberg Indexes, US Geological Survey and Bloomberg reporting.

Note: Estimated vote count percentages are based on Estimated Expected Vote Percentage (EEVP) as
calculated by the Associated Press.



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The past, present and future of the Electoral College • North Dakota Monitor

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The past, present and future of the Electoral College • North Dakota Monitor


The United States’ presidential election system has been a source of contention since the delegates to the Constitutional Convention first debated the matter on June 1, 1787. On that day and several thereafter, the delegates discussed whether “the people” should elect the president. Some steadfastly championed the idea and consequently proposed that a national popular vote determine which person would become president. The following account illuminates why such proposals were defeated, why the Electoral College was adopted instead, and the prospects of a national popular vote in the future. 

Opposition to the national popular vote option at the Constitutional Convention

The convention delegates identified three ways to pick the president. A national popular vote, as we have seen, was one option. The other two were to have either national legislators or state officeholders pick the president. Delegates who favored the latter two options opposed a national popular vote for the following reasons. 

  • Some contended that the masses would be unstable, misinformed and easily duped by demagogues. (The counterargument was that, given the slowness of communications and the diversity of the nation, nefarious characters never could beguile the entire county’s sprawling, heterogeneous populace, whereas they could target and intrigue with national legislators or state officeholders. For this reason, of the three options, a national popular vote could be seen as the best safeguard against domestic and foreign foes). 
  • Others claimed that common folk would be unfamiliar with individuals beyond their state or region. (The counterargument was that as time passed and the bonds of union strengthened, more figures with continental reputations would emerge as prospective presidents.)
  • Still others argued that a small-state resident never would win presidential contests. (This issue could be addressed by having voters cast multiple ballots and establishing requirements concerning how many had to be for a person who resided in a different state than the voter.)
  • Finally, there were those who observed that southern states would be disadvantaged by a national popular vote because, collectively, one-third of their inhabitants were enslaved Black Americans, who were disenfranchised. (The counterargument was that, for now, southern states ought to acquiesce for the greater good’s sake, and, in the future, they could expect to surpass their northern counterparts in population and possibly affect slavery’s end). 

On July 25, the convention voted down by a five-to-six margin (with each state delegation casting one vote) a motion to consider a popular vote system in which each voter would have cast multiple ballots. The narrow defeat arguably marked the closest the U.S. has come to instituting a national popular vote to elect the president. Ultimately, proponents of a national popular vote pushed for what they considered to be the next closest thing, a system which became known as the Electoral College.

The Electoral College at the Constitutional Convention

To win supporters, the architects of the Electoral College leveraged what delegate James Madison often referred to as “expedients” (i.e., features which could be used for outreach and compromise). As a result, the Electoral College offered something to most everyone. 

  • The president would be picked by electors, who themselves would be chosen for that one duty. The people would not directly elevate a person to the presidency, which appeased opponents of a national popular vote.
  • Each state would be allotted a sum of electors equal to its representation in Congress. Numerically, the Electoral College would be identical to a joint session of Congress. The inclusion of the Senate in the formula for allocating electoral votes among the states advantaged small states. (Even so, among the delegates, the general assumption was that large states would exercise an influence on presidential elections mostly commensurate with the sizes of their respective populations.) The inclusion of the House in the formula advantaged slaveholding states, a benefit derived from the Constitution’s Three-Fifths Clause, which allowed states to count three-fifths of their enslaved residents when determining their haul of House seats. Thus large, free states would be underrepresented in the Electoral College while small states and slaveholding states would be overrepresented. Of the latter two, the advantage accorded to slaveholding states had a greater influence on the nation’s trajectory.
  • Electors could not be national lawmakers or hold “an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States.” This provision was designed to thwart cabal and corruption.
  • Congress could determine when electors would be chosen. This provision, like those which empowered Congress to establish when electors would assemble and the manner in which their votes would be certified and transmitted to the nation’s capital, aimed to prevent state interference with the system’s operation.
  • Electors would be appointed in a manner directed by their respective state legislatures. The advocates of a national popular vote wanted electors to be popularly elected; other delegates wanted state lawmakers to select electors. This provision was the politically optimal solution, for it required neither state lawmakers nor the people to pick electors but permitted both to do so. 
  • Each state’s electors would meet and vote on the same day in their respective states. The scattered (and temporary) nature of their work was deemed a security measure in age before instantaneous long-distance communication. Consequently, this provision proved immensely important, even decisive, for it afforded protections against domestic cabal and foreign interference which no other presidential election system could match, a national popular vote notwithstanding.
  • Electors would cast two ballots for president, one of which had to be for a resident of another state. This provision served three purposes: it increased the likelihood that a small-state resident would be elected president ; it countenanced nationalism; and it abetted majoritarianism (if electors cast one ballot, so the reasoning went, presidential contests likely would end with a large-state resident finishing first with a plurality of electoral votes, whereas if electors cast two ballots, it would increase the chances that one or more persons would receive votes from at least half of the electors).
  • The person who received the most electoral votes would become president if a majority of electors had cast a ballot for that person, in which case the person with the second-most electoral votes would become vice president. If no person received a majority of electors’ votes, the House would choose the president from among the top-five electoral vote-getters, with each state delegation casting one vote. These provisions further increased the chances that a small-state resident would become president.

Given the political realities at the convention, this complex arrangement, reflected delegate Abraham Baldwin, was “not so objectionable when well considered, as at first view.”

The Electoral College’s defining traits

The Electoral College originally had six defining traits. 

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  • It promoted democracy. It was the closest thing to a national popular vote politically possible, for it included the potential for the people’s participation in presidential elections. 
  • It promoted nationalism. Nationalism was countenanced to the extent that the president was rooted in the people. Moreover, the system was explicitly interstate in design. Finally, safeguards protected it from state interference. 
  • It promoted national security. Whatever delegates thought about the system’s democratic and nationalistic traits, virtually all acknowledged that, compared to having national legislators or state officeholders pick the president, it provided unmatched defenses against domestic cabal and foreign interference, which many if not all regarded as vital to the republic’s survival. The primacy of shielding the system from enemies may have been the one thing upon which the delegates agreed.
  • It advantaged slaveholding states.
  • It advantaged small states, principally by increasing the likelihood that a small-state resident would be elected president.
  • It satisfied delegates who wanted state legislatures to direct electors’ manner of appointment.

These traits abetted the Electoral College’s approval at the Constitutional Convention and subsequent state ratifying conventions.

The Electoral College in 2024

The Electoral College’s current output mostly bears the opposite character of that which it originally was designed to produce. 

  • It does not promote democracy. It violates one of democracy’s essential features (political equality) and can violate another essential feature (majority rule).
  • It does not promote nationalism. It effectively renders Americans in non-competitive states spectators and it inhibits the formation of interstate affinities.
  • It does not promote national security. It is, in fact, a vital security risk: instead of having to influence many votes across the entire U.S., foes may target relatively few votes in competitive states alone. 
  • It modestly advantages small states, principally through the inclusion of the Senate in the formula for allocating electoral votes, whereas the size of the state from which a would-be president hails is of comparatively little to no importance. 
  • It still accords state legislatures the power to direct the manner in which their respective electors are appointed.

Ironically, the last of these was not something the system’s leading lights had desired, but rather was a necessary accommodation designed to win over other delegates.

The Electoral College’s future

There is little doubt that the Electoral College’s principal architects would have preferred a national popular vote, just as polling has long shown it to be the people’s preference. What are the chances that a national popular vote ever will be affected? That subject merits an analysis of its own. But, for now, three observations warrant brief consideration. 

  • First, state legislatures’ power to direct electors’ manner of appointment, which constitutes a surviving trait of the system’s original design, is the primary instrument for instituting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), a binding agreement between states which, if put into operation, effectively would result in a national popular vote. 
  • Second, since its conception in 2006, the NPVIC has been adopted by 18 jurisdictions (specifically, 17 states and the District of Columbia). These 18 jurisdictions currently control 209 electoral votes (meaning the NPVIC is 61 electoral votes short of the 270 required to make it operational). 
  • Finally, the NPVIC’s durability and accomplishments make it uniquely positioned for future success. According to a to-be-published national study which I oversaw in September 2024, it’s the preferred option among a plurality of Americans under age 50 and it draws in roughly equal measures from Republicans, Democrats and independents. Its base, in short, is broad, balanced and young. Thus the NVPIC movement arguably has brought the nation as close as it’s been to a national popular vote since the one-vote defeat of a motion to that effect at the Constitutional Convention on July 25, 1787, and it is poised to bring it still closer.

The NPVIC movement may crash upon the shoals of opposition, atrophy and perish. Or it may secure 61 more electoral votes and, assuming it is subject to a legal challenge, the approval of five Supreme Court justices. If such should be the case, finally might the people pick the president.



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ND Secretary of State discusses election security

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ND Secretary of State discusses election security


FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – With election day just days away North Dakota Secretary of State is reminding voters how secure North Dakota elections are.

“Absolutely, the North Dakota legislature has been very proactive in implementing election integrity really long before election integrity was cool,” said North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe.

North Dakota is being very proactive in keeping it’s elections safe “We utilize paper ballots in the state of North Dakota. Are paper ballot tabulators have zero internet connection whatsoever. We have a voter ID law so there are a lot of common sense things in North Dakota state law,” said Howe.

7 counties in North Dakota have already utilized in-person early voting.

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“We have 7 counties in the state of North Dakota utilizing in-person early voting and we’re seeing very high turn out early on,” said Howe.

Secretary Howe says historically the state sees high voter turnout for President “historically for Presidential elections in North Dakota we average 63% statewide turnout we’re already approaching 15% turnout a week before the election so we’re going to have a high or above average turnout for this election,” said Howe.

A reminder Secretary Howe wanted to get across about election security was “that’s probably the biggest thing as we enter the final week of the election and then the days after to keep that in mind what you may hear in another state may not and probably doesn’t apply to how North Dakota conducts our elections,” said Howe.

Stick with Valley News Live for all your election coverage.

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