North Dakota Senate Bill SB2178

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/13/25
• Refer: 1/13/25
• Report DNP: 1/23/25

Caption

A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact sections 16.1-02-12, 16.1-02-15, 16.1-03-21, and 16.1-07-05, subsection 1 of section 16.1-07-06, sections 16.1-11-10, 16.1-11-12, 16.1-11-21, 16.1-11-22, 16.1-11-24, 16.1-11-26, 16.1-11-29, and 16.1-11-30, subsection 2 of section 16.1-11-39, and sections 16.1-11-40, 16.1-11.1-02, and 16.1-12-02 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to data stored in the central voter file and primary election ballots.

Summary

SB 2178 would make a broad set of changes to North Dakota election law, focused on the central voter file, absentee/mail ballot applications, and the structure and labeling of primary election ballots. The bill would expand the amount of voting history kept in the central voter file from four to six years and clarify what voter information may be shared with candidates, political parties, and political committees for election-related purposes. It also preserves the rule that certain records, including “secured active” records, remain exempt from public access, while allowing limited information to be used for election administration and campaign-related purposes. A major portion of the bill rewrites primary election procedures to move North Dakota toward a more explicit “consolidated primary election ballot” structure with separate sections for each political party and a no-party ballot section. It would require voters to select only one party section in a party primary, direct election officials to record which party ballot was issued, and update sample ballot publication requirements so legislative district candidates are shown more clearly. The bill also revises filing, petition, and ballot-access rules for candidates and political organizations, including deadlines, petition thresholds, ballot-name rules, and the way independent and presidential candidates are identified on ballots.

Impact

If enacted, SB 2178 would amend multiple sections of the North Dakota Century Code governing voter registration records, absentee voting, candidate filing, ballot access, and primary-election ballot formatting. It would affect the secretary of state, county auditors, political parties, political organizations, candidates, and voters by changing what data is stored in the central voter file, how absentee and mail ballot applications are completed, and how primary ballots are structured and administered. The bill would also update ballot-access and petition rules for political organizations and independent candidates, including presidential nominations and the requirements for separate ballot sections in primary elections.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have faced strong opposition in the Senate. It failed on second reading by a wide margin, 42 nays to 4 yeas, indicating little legislative support at the time of the vote. No committee transcript is available in the provided materials, so the recorded vote is the main indicator of sentiment, and it suggests the proposal was not broadly accepted by the chamber.

Contention

The most likely points of contention were the bill’s election-administration changes, especially the move to separate primary ballots by party and the associated rules for voter selection, ballot rejection, and recording party-ballot choices in the central voter file. Changes to voter-file data retention and the scope of information available to candidates, parties, and political committees may also have raised privacy and access concerns. In addition, the bill’s revisions to ballot-access rules, petition thresholds, and candidate filing procedures likely affected both major parties and smaller political organizations, which could explain resistance from members concerned about voter choice, administrative complexity, or partisan effects.