North Dakota voters adopt single-subject rule for constitutional measures
North Dakota voters on Tuesday evening approved a ballot measure that limits future proposed constitutional amendments to a single subject.
About 66% of voters supported the measure while 34% opposed it, in complete but unofficial results.
The new requirement applies to both voter-initiated amendments as well as those referred by state lawmakers.
Constitutional Measure 1 was referred to the ballot through Senate Resolution 4007, which lawmakers approved during the 2025 session. Lawmakers who backed the proposal said their goal was to make proposed constitutional amendments easier for voters to understand.
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Bismarck resident Rob Moyle said he voted for Measure 1 because he thinks amendments should be straightforward, not complicated.
“I think it’s easy to keep it simple when you’re amending the constitution,” he said. “I think it should be narrow and focused.”
The amendment tasks the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office with verifying that each future proposed constitutional amendment is single-subject before it is certified for the ballot.
Secretary of State Michael Howe told lawmakers during the 2025 session that he would rely on the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office to make those determinations.
Critics of the amendment have said they worry it will make it harder to pass voter-initiated measures, and that what counts as a single subject is too subjective.
“It kind of takes the voice away from people that are trying to put out a particular initiative,” Patrick Clancy, a Bismarck voter, said of the proposal on Tuesday.
The Legislature previously proposed a similar amendment as part of a package of other potential changes to the constitutional measure process. That proposal failed on the 2024 general election ballot.
North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge contributed to this story.