Bismarck, ND – North Dakota’s governor signed a bill on Wednesday to prohibit the unusual voting system used by the largest city in its state.
The bill Signed by Republican Kelly Armstrong rule Bans classified the choice and approval vote. Voting of classification choice, in which voters classify their favorite candidates, it is used In Alaska and Maine and several cities, but not in North Dakota. Voters select as many candidates as they want under vote of approval; The main voters win.
Fargo adopted the approval vote through the voting initiative in 2018 and uses the system to choose the mayor and four commissioners of the city. The measure occurred after the previous elections in which the candidates won the commission seats with fair glue vote splinters in crowded races.
In 2018, before the vote of the approval, the candidates of the winning commission received 18% and 16.5% of the votes, respectively. In the 2024 commission race, the two winners had support of 46% and 44.5% of the voters. Three city elections have used approval vote.
Supporters, including Mayor Tim Mahoney, say that vote approval works for Fargo. But the sponsor of the bill, Republican representative Ben Koppelman of West Fargo, said the system prefers “vanilla” candidates who do not take hard positions. Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe supported the bill, saying that North Dakota needs uniform elections.
In a statement, the governor said: “Now more than ever, we need a consistent, efficient and easy to understand voter experience to maintain confidence in our electoral system.”
In 2023, then Gov. Doug Burgum He vetoed a Koppelman bill to ban the Fargo system. He called for the overreach of Bill’s state and a shameless infraction in local control. The camera annulled the veto, but the Senate held it.
The mayor of Fargo said that city officials saw the final result, given the strong support of the legislature for the bill.
“The people of Fargo liked the vote of approval. It worked for us, but we accepted the legislative body. We accepted the decision they made,” Mahoney said.
The next election of the city is in June 2026 for the mayor and two seats of the city commission.
