Voters reject ballot measures

By Amy Dalrymple | Editor

By Jacob Orledge

North Dakota voters have rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that sought to guarantee free school meals to all K-12 students in the state. 

Measure 2 was rejected by nearly 51% of voters, according to complete but unofficial results published by the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office.  

The measure’s margin of defeat was about 2,900 votes. 

Measure 2 was a proposed amendment to the North Dakota constitution that would require schools to provide free lunch and breakfast to K-12 students and be reimbursed by the state for the expense. 

AT A GLANCE: Statewide election results.

By Jack Dura

North Dakota voters Tuesday rejected a higher bar to amend the state constitution.

“No” votes for Measure 1 led “yes” votes by a margin of about 56% to 44%, according to complete but unofficial results. Measure 1 was for a 60% threshold for voters to approve future constitutional amendments. 

The measure’s defeat is a blow to North Dakota’s Republican-led Legislature, which put the measure on the ballot.

By Michael Achterling

North Dakota voters have given U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak a second term in Congress.

Fedorchak led in a political rematch against Democratic-NPL U.S. House candidate Trygve Hammer when The Associated Press called the race at 8:56 p.m. Fedorchak finished with 57% of the vote Tuesday to Hammer’s 37% in complete but unofficial results.

Fedorchak said Republicans have been delivering the environment that North Dakotans want to live in.

“They want limited government. They want low taxes. They want a great business climate,” she said Tuesday night. “Those are Republican policies that have allowed us to flourish in North Dakota, and they don’t want to turn away from that.”

By Jack Dura

Democrats made small gains in North Dakota’s Legislature Tuesday, flipping some seats in Fargo and Grand Forks to boost their tiny minority.

Republicans will keep their longtime control of the Legislature by supermajorities in the House and Senate. Seventy-five of 141 seats were on the ballot. Two incumbents, both Republicans, lost election.

By Jeff Beach

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring was reelected Tuesday after an active campaign by Democratic challenger Vern Thompson. 

Goehring, a Republican, said Tuesday night he tried to focus during the campaign on ag issues such as research and foreign trade. He said North Dakota doesn’t have a lot of control over federal tariff policies but the state still needs to pursue ag exports for North Dakota commodities.

“You put your head down and work through this,” he said. 

By Jack Dura

North Dakota voters on Tuesday approved Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s first appointments to statewide offices, giving green lights to Public Service Commissioner Jill Kringstad and State Superintendent Levi Bachmeier to keep serving two more years.

Voters also reelected all other Republican state officeholders. No Democrat has won a statewide election in North Dakota since Heidi Heitkamp’s 2012 U.S. Senate victory.

By Jacob Orledge and Jack Dura

An error resulted in some Bismarck-area District 7 voters receiving a ballot that omitted the district’s legislative races early Tuesday. 

The error was caught and corrected by approximately 9:30 a.m. at the Liberty Elementary polling location, which opened at 7 a.m. Some District 7 voters had been erroneously handed a ballot for District 8, which does not have any legislative races on the ballot this year. 

North Dakota’s top election official said he is incredibly frustrated and feels for voters who were unaware and for the candidates.

“One error is too many,” said Secretary of State Michael Howe, who added he wasn’t aware of similar errors elsewhere in the state. 

Howe said no issues were brought to his office’s attention regarding the U.S. Department of Justice election monitors in Cass County.

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