By:Mary Steurer (ND Monitor)
The League of Women Voters of North Dakota is asking Gov. Kelly Armstrong to veto a bill that would shorten the window for North Dakotans to submit mail-in absentee ballots.
Mail-in ballots are counted in North Dakota so long as they’re postmarked by the day before Election Day and are delivered within 13 days of the election.
House Bill 1165 would amend this to require mail-in ballots to be received by an election officer by the time the polls close — a change the League in a Tuesday email to members called an “overreach and overreaction.”
“Eligible North Dakota voters should be able to mail their absentee ballot without fear that their ballot will be tossed out,” Barbara Headrick, the organization’s president, said in a statement to the North Dakota Monitor. She said the bill would create obstacles for groups like rural and Native voters, seniors and people with disabilities.
The amendment was made to comply with a March 25 executive order issued by President Donald Trump that forbids states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
The bill was originally intended to clean up state law governing elections procedures. The main purpose of the bill is to make ballots easier for voters to understand and make election practices more uniform across the state. It addresses things like write-in candidate deadlines, what counts as a valid residential address and who can remove election judges, for example.
“What’s in this bill is what I would refer to as the ‘no-brainer’ stuff,” Rep. Scott Louser, R-Minot, the bill’s primary sponsor, said at its first hearing before the House Political Subdivisions Committee in January.
The Senate State and Local Government Committee during committee discussion earlier this month added the deadline change for mail-in ballots. The amendment was brought by the Secretary of State’s Office, according to Deputy Secretary of State Sandra McMerty.
McMerty in a Tuesday statement to the North Dakota Monitor said the change was suggested to comply with the executive order and to “remove uncertainty and inconsistencies surrounding postmarking requirements of the USPS.”
Since the amendment was introduced after the bill’s public hearing in the Senate, the public did not have an opportunity to comment on the proposed changes.
States neighboring North Dakota — Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska — already have similar requirements on the books, she noted.
Sen. Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, chair of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, said during the hearing the Legislature had weighed adopting the policy before and that she feels it is “best practice” for elections.
The state has been reluctant to change the law in case ballot delivery is delayed by the postal service, Roers said. She said this shouldn’t be an issue since the post office treats the election-related mail with extra care.
McMerty said the Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t anticipate the change causing any problems either.
“We don’t foresee significant barriers to voters as 0.1% of absentee ballots in the general election were postmarked prior to Election Day and delivered to the county after Election Day,” she told the Monitor.
Military overseas ballots wouldn’t have to observe the same deadline, they would just have to be mailed by the time polls close on Election Day, the bill indicates. Ballots would have to be received by the time the county canvassing board meets. Voters also would be able to personally hand in their ballots to their county auditor on Election Day before polls close.
The Senate last week voted 43-4 to pass the bill. The House on Monday approved the amended bill by a vote of 85-7.
The Legislature in March approved a resolution earlier this session, House Concurrent Resolution 3006, calling on the postmaster general of the United States Postal Service to address problems with mail.
“During testimony, we heard instance after instance of non-delivered or late delivered mail that caused harm to our citizens,” said Sen. Mike Wobemma, R-Valley City, said of the measure on the Senate floor last month.
After last June’s primary election, at least five North Dakota counties reported receiving absentee ballots by mail with no postmarks.
Trump’s executive order remains in effect, though a group of 19 states earlier this month filed a federal lawsuit over the directive, arguing that it violates states rights and will make it harder for some Americans to vote. North Dakota is not a party to the lawsuit.
