HB 1245 — Summary (North Dakota — Election Offenses amendment)
Status: Introduced Nov 12, 2024; Second reading — failed to pass (yeas 29, nays 64) on 2025-02-24.
Purpose
- To amend and reenact NDCC § 16.1‑01‑12 to expand, clarify, and specify criminal and civil penalties for a range of election‑related offenses involving ballots, voting, petition circulation, election officers, and election systems.
Key provisions (substance of the amended § 16.1‑01‑12)
- Prohibited acts (applies to individuals, measure committees, and other organizations):
- Fraudulently altering or substituting another person’s ballot or otherwise depriving a voter of their vote.
- Causing a disturbance or obstructing a voter or election board at or en route to a polling place.
- Voting more than once, voting when not qualified, or knowingly voting in the wrong precinct/district.
- Disobeying lawful commands of election officers or willfully failing election‑officer duties after taking the oath.
- Knowingly excluding qualified electors or allowing unqualified persons to vote.
- Improperly signing, circulating, or submitting initiative/referendum/recall petitions (including signing names other than one’s own).
- Paying or receiving payment tied to the number of petition signatures (payment based on number of signatures is prohibited); signatures obtained in violation are void.
- Willfully making false canvass/returns or destroying/defacing election materials.
- Negatively impacting the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of any system used for voting (i.e., interfering with voting systems).
Penalties:
- Certain offenses (e.g., obstructing voters, failing to follow election officer commands, some petition infractions) designated as Class A misdemeanors.
- More serious offenses (e.g., ballot fraud, voting more than once, false returns, severe system interference) designated as Class C felonies.
- Signing 1–2 names other than one’s own on a petition: Class A misdemeanor; signing more than two names: Class C felony.
- Organizations convicted under the section are subject to organizational fines and mandatory notification to the Secretary of State; convictions trigger revocation of authority to do business and a multi‑year bar on reapplication (1 year for Class A misdemeanor; 5 years for Class C felony). Special rule: signature‑gathering businesses convicted for fraud face a 5‑year bar.
- Civil penalty (up to $3,000) for a member/agent of a measure committee convicted of certain petition fraud; recoverable by the Attorney General in district court.
Other:
- Accomplice liability: members of organizations can be convicted as accomplices.
- Reaffirms that offences related to candidate elections apply equally to ballot questions.
Who is affected
- Individual voters and prospective voters, petition signers, petition circulators, measure/initiative/referendum committees, signature‑gathering firms, election officers, political/advocacy organizations, courts, the Secretary of State (administrative actions), and the Attorney General (civil enforcement).
Potential impacts
- Increases clarity and specificity of prohibited conduct and raises criminal/civil accountability for election‑related misconduct, including petition fraud and actions that compromise voting systems.
- Could deter fraudulent behavior and strengthen enforcement tools, but may also increase compliance burdens for petition campaigns and signature‑gathering operations (disclosure, remuneration rules).
- Organizational sanctions (loss of authority to do business) add strong corporate‑level consequences, potentially affecting commercial petition firms.
Procedural note
- Although introduced and advanced to second reading, the measure did not pass the legislature on second reading (vote noted above) and therefore did not become law.
