What North Dakotans need to know before Tuesday’s primary

(North Dakota Monitor) – Dozens of contested legislative races, the fate of two challengers dissatisfied with the Public Service Commission and a ballot measure will be determined by North Dakota’s primary on Tuesday.

It is an unusual election year in North Dakota. Neither the governor, nor the two U.S. senators will be on the ballot for the first time since 2014.

The statewide offices to be determined are attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, superintendent of public instruction, tax commissioner, two seats on the Supreme Court and two positions on the Public Service Commission, one for a two-year term and the other for six years. North Dakota’s lone congressional seat is also on the ballot.

Of those, only the GOP races for Congress and Public Service Commission are contested in the primary election. There is also a three-way race for superintendent of public instruction, which is a nonpartisan position where the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.

Even candidates who are running unopposed in their party’s primary run the risk of not advancing to the general election. Candidates must receive at least as many votes in the primary as the number of signatures required to appear on the ballot in order to receive the nomination. The minimum vote requirement will never be more than 300.

For example, if a legislative candidate needed 165 signatures to appear on the primary ballot, but only receive 100 votes, they are not nominated and will not advance to the general election.

There are many contested legislative primary races. The primary election also doubles as a local election for county and city races, as well as any local ballot measures.

There is also a ballot measure, proposed by the North Dakota Legislature, asking voters to amend the constitution to require future constitutional amendment ballot measures to be limited to a single subject.

The results of these contests can be tracked on election night by checking a new election results website launched by the Secretary of State’s Office, found here.

More information about the races at issue, the candidates running for office and the ballot measure can be found in the North Dakota Monitor Voter Guide. Election resources are available on the Secretary of State’s website and the League of Women Voters of North Dakota voter guide.

North Dakotans can vote via absentee ballot, during in-person early voting or in-person on Election Day.

Absentee ballots have to be requested. Once received, completed and mailed, the absentee ballot has to arrive before polls close on Election Day to be counted.

Eight counties offered early in-person voting. The schedule can be found here.

Polling locations and hours, for early voting and on Election Day, can be found here. Polls open between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time and close at 7 p.m. local time on Election Day.

You will need to present your ID at a polling location before receiving a ballot.

In North Dakota, four forms of identification are acceptable: A North Dakota driver’s license; a non-driver state-issued identification card; a tribal ID or a tribal letter; a certificate from a long-term care facility.

You can only vote in the Republican primary, or the Democratic primary, not both.

The ballots are divided between partisan primary races on the front and local elections on the back, like this sample for Burleigh County. On the front, there will be a column for Republicans and a column for Democrats. Voters must choose which to fill out.

“We get that question a lot. Can I vote for the Republican U.S. House candidate, and can I vote for the Democrat Public Service Commissioner? You cannot,” said Michael Howe, secretary of state. “You must stay in your partisan column for the primary election.”

The machine counting the paper ballots will reject any ballot with votes for primary races from both parties. The voter will have the choice of requesting a new ballot to fill out correctly, or submitting it as it is. If the voter does not correct the ballot, the votes cast for partisan races will be invalidated but the votes for local races on the back will be counted.

Voters may skip election races on their ballot. Voters may also skip the partisan primary races entirely if they only wish to vote in the local elections contained on the same ballot.

“If you’re only passionate about the one constitutional question, you could theoretically just fill that question out and submit your ballot that way,” Howe said.

Do unopposed candidates automatically advance to the general election?
No. North Dakota law requires candidates to receive a minimum number of votes in order to advance to the general election.

The primary election determines who the nominees appearing on the general election ballot for a given position will be. North Dakota law requires a nominee to receive at least as many votes as the number of signatures required on a petition for them to appear on the primary ballot.

A new state law passed in 2025 requires all absentee ballots to arrive by the time polls close on Election Day in order to be counted.

“If you put it in the mail on Monday, probably not going to arrive by Tuesday at 7 p.m.,” Howe said.

If you have not mailed your absentee ballot yet, you can drop it off in person at your county office and be sure it will be counted. Absentee ballots cannot be dropped off at polling locations. You can track the status of your ballot on the Secretary of State’s website.

If the tracker shows your ballot has not arrived yet, you can still go to a polling location to vote on Election Day. Poll workers will check the central voter file when you check in at the polling location. The system will show whether or not your absentee ballot has arrived or not.

If you vote and the absentee ballot arrives later that day, the system will show you have already voted and the absentee ballot will not be counted. Likewise, if the absentee ballot has arrived by the time you check in at the polling location, the poll worker will be able to see that and notify you.

By Jacob Orledge.