BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota voters can start receiving and casting absentee ballots for the general election beginning Thursday.
Voters can fill out an absentee ballot application via websites for the secretary of state or their county, or in person at their county auditor’s office. County election officials send voters a ballot after reviewing and verifying their application information, Secretary of State Michael Howe said.
Voters need to return their ballot before polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3. They can return their absentee ballot in person, by mail or county dropbox. Absentee ballots won’t be accepted at the polls on Election Day. Absentee voters should fill out and return their ballots as soon as they can, Howe said.
Voters also can stop by their county office, complete an absentee application, receive, fill out and return the ballot on the spot, Howe said.
“It is kind of a form of in-person early voting if you so choose,” he said.
State law allows two weeks of in-person early voting. Seven counties offer it.
Burleigh begins Oct. 22. Stutsman and Ward start Oct 26. Cass, Grand Forks and Morton counties begin Oct. 27. Stark opens Oct. 29. In addition, Sioux County offers some absentee voting days starting Oct. 26.
North Dakota’s general election includes two ballot measures: Measure 1, to require at least 60% voter approval of constitutional amendments, and Measure 2, to fund free school meals.
Statewide races include North Dakota’s sole U.S. House seat, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, tax commissioner, superintendent of public instruction, two seats on the Public Service Commission and two seats on the state Supreme Court.
Additionally, 75 of 141 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot.
North Dakota – the only state without voter registration – had nearly 43% turnout in the 2022 midterm election. North Dakota has about 600,000 eligible voters.
Howe encouraged every eligible voter to participate and to take a look at a ballot measure guide his office sent out, as well as websites and for and against the measures.
“Don’t just take our word for it, too. We encourage everyone who is going to participate in this process to seek out more information,” Howe said.
The League of Women Voters of North Dakota has an online voter guide at vote411.org/north-dakota, which also includes information on local races.
North Dakota has no presidential, gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races on the ballot this fall, an oddity that last occurred in 2014.
Overseas and military voters have been able to request absentee ballots since Sept. 18.
Republicans hold all of North Dakota’s partisan statewide offices and congressional seats and have supermajorities in the Legislature. Heidi Heitkamp’s 2012 U.S. Senate victory was the last time a Democrat won a statewide election.
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