Legislative Session
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We had a busy 2023 session and are pleased that most of the bad election bills did not become law. Click this graphic to see our impact!
Our Priorities
Our top priority for the 2023 North Dakota legislative session was protecting the right to vote to ensure our elections remain fair and accessible for all eligible North Dakota voters.
We tracked 39 election-related bills and provided testimony on 8 of the bills. Public education was our secondary focus, which we did through social media and YouTube videos on the legislative process.
2023 Voting & Election Bills
There were a handful of good election bills that passed this session including a bill to require school board candidates to file a campaign finance report, protections for poll workers, and a bill to require candidates to file for candidacy with an email address, <- yay for transparency!
A few bills that we opposed that passed both chambers:
#1. Proof of citizenship to vote. Our major focus in the second chamber was a bill that targeted naturalized new Americans to prove their citizenship to vote. It was signed into law, so we will work with new American leaders on voter education.
#2. Citizen-initiated ballot measures. A resolution passed that restricts the citizen-initiated ballot measure process. This will be placed on the ballot in 2024 for citizens to decide if it should be in our state constitution.
#3. Ranked choice and approval voting. A bill to ban ranked choice and approval voting was vetoed by the Governor, and the Senate sustained the veto. It will not become law!
Most bad election bills failed. This session we saw bills to get rid of mail-in voting, limit ballot drop boxes, and limit vote centers. They all failed to pass largely due to the educational work of the North Dakota Association of Counties, which represents our county auditors who run our elections. We prioritized opposing a bill that would require all voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote, and thankfully, it failed. Read our testimony to learn more.
Our Positions
Our guiding document on public policy positions can be found in Impact on Issues, an overview of the League of Women Voters of the US’ advocacy and legislative work from the 1960s and onward. We focus our state advocacy on the right to vote, which can be found on pages 23–32.
Select an image below to learn more!
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State Legislative Resources
North Dakota Legislative Website
Our state legislative branch has a great website where you can find bills that were filed, testimony from session, and more. Take a tour of the website in our 10-minute video.
The best time to reach out to your legislator is outside of the legislative session. They represent you and your community so reach out today to share what issues are important to you.
You can run for the state legislature to represent your community. In 2024, the even-numbered legislative districts are up for election, and the political parties endorse their candidates by district January-April 2024