North Dakota has a strong history of populist politics. It means the will of the people holds power over political elitism.
One of the best examples of this long-standing independence is the ability of North Dakotans to initiate measures. It means if we don’t like something, we can get together and vote to change it.
The initiated measure is a check on those we elect to represent us. It reminds politicians we are in charge. It’s also a right enshrined in North Dakota’s constitution.
And yet in recent years, a majority of elected state lawmakers have tried to take that right away from us by making initiated measures harder to approve.
Ironically, lawmakers need us to agree to weaken our own rights, since it’s built into the fabric of our constitution.
The latest attempt is North Dakota Measure 2. It was placed on this year’s November ballot by state lawmakers during the 2023 legislative session.
Measure 2 would do a number of things to weaken our ability to check political power. It would:
Require both constitutional and non-constitutional initiated measures to be limited to one subject.Require that measure sponsors be qualified electors.Require that only qualified electors may circulate a petition.Require petition signers to provide a complete residential address.Increase the number of signatures required to place a constitutional initiated measure on the ballot from 4% to 5% of the North Dakota population.
But all those minor adjustments pale in comparison to the biggest hurdle of all: Measure 2 would require voters to approve initiated measures twice: once in a primary election and once in a general election. This means any change driven by the public would take a minimum of four years to begin and more likely would take longer.
Lawmakers have had some of their laws overruled by voters in recent years and they don’t like it, but rather than respect the will of the public, they have decided to try to undermine the public’s ability to address grievances.
Measure 2 is such an affront to populist politics that former Gov. Ed Schafer, perhaps one of the state’s most populist leaders, has launched a campaign to defeat it.
“Measure 2 is a three-pronged attack on our state’s ballot initiative process that would make it far more difficult for North Dakotans to write, qualify, and pass constitutional amendments in the future,” the former Republican governor said. “The people of North Dakota have proven that they can be trusted to make responsible decisions at the ballot box, which is why Measure 2 is unnecessary.”
We couldn’t agree more.
The good news is that voters get to decide in November whether to weaken their own rights.
They should resoundingly vote “no” on Measure 2 and educate their friends and neighbors to do the same.
By sending a strong message to lawmakers, voters can once and for all show that they want to protect their right to initiate change through a populist process.
And if lawmakers don’t respect that vote this time, perhaps the public should initiate a measure to reduce the size and power of the Legislature.
This Forum Communications Co. editorial represents the views of Forum Communications Co., this newspaper’s parent company. It was written by the FCC Editorial Advisory Board.
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FCC Editorial Advisory Board
The FCC Editorial Advisory Board is a collection of Forum Communications Co. leaders and editors who advise management and write editorials and commentary on the company’s editorial positions and operations periodically.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 00:24:00
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