This week, North Dakota saw its lowest voter turnout in a general election in 50 years, a sharp contrast to the national attention surrounding this year’s midterms.

The North Dakota secretary of state reported just under 40% of eligible voters cast ballots in this year's election.

Michelle Buehlmann, clinical assistant professor of political science and public administration at the University of North Dakota, thinks the lack of competitive, high-profile races likely contributed to the decline. She stressed the low turnout is important when interpreting the state’s ballot measure results.

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"People normally turn out for elections over the candidates, not ballot measures, so there just wasn't a big draw," Buehlmann explained.

Voters rejected both statewide constitutional measures. The first would have raised the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. And Measure 2 sought to guarantee free breakfast and lunch to all K-12 students. It failed by fewer than 3,000 votes.

Buehlmann noted the narrow defeat does not necessarily reflect broad opposition to the idea of universal school meals. Instead, she believes it raised concerns about putting a long-term funding commitment into the state constitution. She pointed out a proposal going through the state Legislature, rather than amending the constitution, could have a different outcome if it includes financial safeguards.

"There was language about how they were going to pay for it that creates what we in political science call the 'dead hands problem.' We're going to make a decision today that's going to commit future generations to paying for something, and that financial planning is just not characteristic of North Dakota. We tend to be frugal people," Buehlmann observed.

Republicans won every statewide partisan race in North Dakota, although Democrats picked up a handful of legislative seats. Buehlmann thinks national results reflect growing concerns about how the government exercises its power. She pointed to neighboring Minnesota, where fatal encounters involving federal immigration officers drew national attention.

"We can disagree without being disagreeable. And I just think that went a bridge too far for most Americans, that they just couldn't put up with that kind of government-sponsored violence," Buehlmann emphasized.