BISMARCK — The North Dakota Senate on Friday killed a bill that would have banned mail-in ballots and another that would have expanded reporting rules for certain political committees.
Senate Bill 2308 to ban mail-in ballots, brought by Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, failed in an 8-38 vote. The Senate State and Local Government Committee had given the bill a unanimous "do not pass" recommendation.
"My biggest concern is we have over 30 counties that this is their primary way of voting, and to throw it out as an option is a huge change for those counties and with not a lot of evidence to justify that giant of a change in my mind," Committee Chair Kristin Roers, R-Fargo, told her panel Thursday.
Magrum cited "potential mischief" around mail-in voting in bringing the bill.
More than 70,000 North Dakota voters cast ballots by mail in the November 2022 election. That was nearly 30% of all ballots cast.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Legislature is handling dozens of of Republican-led, election-related bills, a nationwide trend continued from 2021 in the wake of the 2020 presidential election and former President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.
The Senate in a 12-33 vote Friday also killed Magrum's Senate Bill 2318, which would have required multicandidate committees to report the recipients of their expenditures, and the names of candidates and measures they support or oppose.
Magrum confirmed his proposal is directly in response to the Dakota Leadership PAC, which supported his opponent last year. Dakota Leadership PAC, which targeted Republican legislative races in 2020 and 2022, is almost entirely funded by Gov. Doug Burgum.
Forum News Service reporter Jeremy Turley contributed to this story
The Trust Project
