AN ACT to amend and reenact section 16.1-06-07.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the printing of presidential candidate names on a general election ballot.
HB 1099 amends North Dakota election law governing how presidential candidates and their electors are displayed on the general election ballot. The bill requires the office of president and vice president to appear first in the ballot’s continuous listing of offices, with presidential electors grouped together under that heading on the right side of the ballot column. It also directs that the presidential candidate’s surname be printed in bold type to the left of the electors’ names, with a single oval aligned with the candidate’s name so that a voter’s mark counts as a vote for all electors in that group.
The measure is a technical ballot-formatting change rather than a substantive change to candidate eligibility or election outcomes. It updates section 16.1-06-07.1 of the North Dakota Century Code to standardize the presentation of presidential tickets and elector slates on the ballot, which affects election administrators, ballot designers, and voters in presidential election years. The bill was enacted without recorded opposition in the available vote history, passing the House 89-0 and the Senate 46-0, and was filed with the Secretary of State.
HB 1099 amends North Dakota Century Code section 16.1-06-07.1 to revise the required layout of presidential and vice presidential candidates on general election ballots. The change affects how presidential electors are grouped and how the candidate name and voting oval are displayed, but it does not alter voter qualifications, ballot access rules, or the allocation of electoral votes. Its practical impact is on election administration and ballot design standards used by county officials and the Secretary of State.
The available legislative record shows strong bipartisan support and no recorded dissent. The bill passed both chambers unanimously, suggesting it was viewed as a routine administrative or clarifying election-law measure rather than a controversial policy change. No committee transcripts are available, but the vote totals indicate broad agreement on the ballot-format adjustment.
No notable contention is evident in the available materials. Because the bill is narrowly focused on ballot formatting for presidential elections, any concerns would likely have centered on administrative implementation or ballot clarity rather than policy disagreement. The unanimous votes indicate that neither chamber identified significant objections.