North Dakota voters approve Constitutional ballot integrity

Only one state-wide measure appeared on yesterday’s Primary Election ballot in North Dakota and it had to do with Constitutional ballot measures. It requires that such future measures be limited to a single subject and it passed easily (garnering approval by roughly a 2/3 margin).

With its passage, North Dakota joined 16 other states which require single subjects. That’s significant, considering that many states — particularly many east of the Mississippi — do not even have initiative and referendum options.

Voters agreed that, when they’re asked to decide an issue on the ballot, which will change the the Constitution of North Dakota, what they’re voting on should be clear and straight forward.  That’s good news.

As we previously noted, measures placed on election ballots, whether by the Legislature, by citizens or special interests, should be simple, clear, and easily understood by those making the ultimate decision on them. After all, such measures can have major effects on the lives of all North Dakotans and those they elect to represent them, far into the future.

What’s more, some have cynically discovered that initiating ballot measures in our state is relatively easy and can be a way to slip things through which probably would not be adopted legislatively, or if people knew the whole story. That’s both because the threshold to get things on the ballot here is relatively easy, and because it’s also been easy, at times, to sugar coat things or even conceal them from voters.

Such groups have also made it a practice, in recent years, not just to attempt to change the law, but to focus upon changing the Constitution. That makes it more difficult to rectify it, if the people or those they elect to represent them discover problems or things that were previously concealed and would likely not have passed, had they been clearly known and understood.

The ploy has sometimes worked because, when voters go to the polls, all that is printed on the ballot is a brief explanation (often only a couple of sentences) to summarize what, at times, has been a voluminous document — as much as 30 pages long. That’s when it’s easy for things to be missed, at best, or hidden, at worst. Proponents can advertise what sounds good, while concealing something else that’s far less palatable. It’s the old “pass it to learn what’s in it” trick.

Of course, all voters cannot be expected to have thoroughly researched a measure that complex, covering many subjects. 

That’s why the people understood and agreed that, when they’re asked to make an important decision for North Dakota, the question before them should be focused, clear and straight forward.

The approved measure applies equally to future Constitutional measures placed on the ballot by initiative (when enough signatures are gathered) or by Legislative action.  That’s fair and as it should be. The Legislature and those initiating such measures should be held to the same standard.

Yesterday, the majority who voted helped improve the clarity and integrity of future ballot measures — something all North Dakotans should celebrate.