Ballot initiative mechanics in North Dakota
How ballot initiatives work covers the four mechanisms nationally. This page covers North Dakota's specific numbers and deadlines. North Dakota has one of the most permissive citizen initiative processes among the 26 initiative states, offering both statutory initiatives and constitutional amendments plus veto referendums.
North Dakota's process
Signature thresholds are calculated as a percentage of the state's total population from the most recent decennial census, not turnout in a prior election, which is unusual among initiative states. Sponsors first submit draft petition language to the Secretary of State, who has 5 to 7 business days to assign a title and approve the petition's form. Once approved, sponsors have a full year to circulate and collect signatures, one of the longest windows of any initiative state.
There is no requirement that signatures come from a minimum number of counties or legislative districts, and no petition filing fee appears in the official process. The main structural change for 2026 is a new single-subject rule for constitutional amendments, approved by voters in the June 2026 primary by roughly a two-to-one margin. That rule binds future constitutional measures, whether from citizen petition or legislative referral, but does not extend to statutory initiatives.
Deadlines and numbers
- Statutory initiative or veto referendum: 15,582 signatures (2% of population)
- Constitutional amendment: 31,164 signatures (4% of population)
- Circulation window: up to 1 year from petition approval
- Filing deadline: at least 120 days before the target statewide election
- Secretary of State signature review window: up to 35 days after filing
- Petition title/form approval turnaround: 5 to 7 business days
- Signer eligibility: US citizen, age 18+, North Dakota resident 30+ days
- Geographic distribution requirement: none
- Filing fee: none identified
- Single-subject rule: constitutional amendments only, effective from June 2026
Where to go
- Secretary of State, Ballot Measures: sos.nd.gov/elections/voter/ballot-measures
- Secretary of State, Drafting Ballot Measures: sos.nd.gov/elections/voter/ballot-measures/drafting-ballot-measures
- Secretary of State, Petitions in Circulation: sos.nd.gov/elections/voter/ballot-measures/petitions-circulation
- Elections Division: 701-328-4146
Rules
North Dakota is one of the easiest states in the country to run a citizen ballot campaign in, structurally speaking. Signature thresholds are pegged to total population from the census rather than to turnout in a recent election, which means the target number stays fixed for a full decade instead of shifting after every governor's race. There's no requirement to spread signatures across a minimum number of counties, and no filing fee. The year-long circulation window is also unusually generous.
The one real change for 2026 is a new single-subject rule for constitutional amendments, which voters approved by a wide margin in the June 2026 primary. It applies to future constitutional measures whether they come from citizen petition or from the legislature, but statutory initiatives are not covered by it.
One historical gap: whether North Dakota's signature formula was ever tied to gubernatorial vote totals before this population-based method took hold isn't confirmed by current sourcing, only that the population-based method governs now. That's a background curiosity rather than something that affects planning a 2026 campaign. For anything North Dakota-specific this page doesn't answer, route to /engage.