North Dakota Republicans have approved a constitutional amendment that would make future ballot initiatives more difficult for voters to pass, the latest salvo in the GOP’s wide-ranging war on direct democracy nationwide. However, the amendment must now win public approval in November 2024 before it can become law, and voters rejected a similar effort to restrict initiatives just a few years ago.
The GOP’s latest proposal would crack down on voter-initiated amendments in several ways: They’d be limited to a single subject; out-of-state signature gatherers would be banned; and the number of signatures required would increase by 25%, from 4% of the state’s population at the most recent census to 5%. In raw numbers, that would mean a jump from approximately 31,000 signatures to around 39,000.
The measure would also require that voters approve any initiatives at the ballot box not once but twice—first at the next primary and then, if they pass at that juncture, once again at the next general election. Notably, this requirement would not apply to amendments placed on the ballot by lawmakers, which, as they do now, would only need to win voter approval at the next general election.
Only one other state, Nevada, has a similar requirement, but there, voters get the opportunity to weigh in at two successive general elections. By mandating that one of the elections be a primary, North Dakota would further tip the scales against progressive amendments: Republicans have more reason to vote in primaries than Democrats, since winning the GOP primary is often tantamount to victory in this deep-red state.