Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota
In Regular Session Commencing Tuesday, January 7, 2025
SENATE BILL NO. 2269
(Senators Roers, Rummel)
(Representatives Christy, Stemen)
AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 44-08 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating
to recall elections for members of a governing body of a city; and to amend and reenact section
16.1-01-09.1 and subsection 1 of section 44-08-21 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating
to recall petitions and recall elections for political subdivision officials.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 16.1-01-09.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is amended
and reenacted as follows:
16.1-01-09.1. Recall petitions - Signature - Form - Circulation.
1.A request of the secretary of state for approval of a petition to recall an elected official or
appointed official of a vacated elected office may be presented over the signatures of the
sponsoring committee on individual signature forms that have been notarized. The secretary
of state shall prepare a signature form that includes provisions for identification of the recall;
the printed name, signature, and address of the committee member; and notarization of the
signature. The filed signature forms must be originals. The secretary of state shall complete
the review of the form of a recall petition in not less than five, nor more than seven, business
days, excluding Saturdays.
2.An individual may not sign a recall petition circulated pursuant to article III of the Constitution
of North Dakota or, section 44-08-21, or section 3 of this Act unless the individual is a qualified
elector. An individual may not sign a petition more than once, and each signer shall also
legibly print the signer's name, complete residential, rural route, or general delivery address,
and the date of signing on the petition. Every qualified elector signing a petition must do so in
the presence of the individual circulating the petition. A petition must be in substantially the
following form:
RECALL PETITION
We, the undersigned, being qualified electors request that
____________________________________(name of the individual being recalled)
the___________________(office of individual being recalled) be recalled for the reason
or reasons of______________________________.
RECALL SPONSORING COMMITTEE
The following are the names and addresses of the qualified electors of the state of North
Dakota and the political subdivision who, as the sponsoring committee for the petitioners,
represent and act for the petitioners in accordance with law:
Complete Residential,
Rural Route,
or General
Name Delivery Address S. B. NO. 2269 - PAGE 2
1._____________________(Chairperson)_________________________
2.__________________________________________________________
3.__________________________________________________________
4.__________________________________________________________
5.__________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS TO PETITION SIGNERS
You are being asked to sign a petition. You must be a qualified elector. This means you
are eighteen years old, you have lived in North Dakota for thirty days, and you are a
United States citizen. All signers shall also legibly print their name, complete residential,
rural route, or general delivery address, and date of signing on the petition. Every
qualified elector signing a petition must do so in the presence of the individual circulating
the petition.
QUALIFIED ELECTORS
Signed Printed Complete Residential,
Month, Name of Name of Rural Route, City
Day, Qualified Qualifiedor General State,
Year Elector Elector Delivery AddressZip Code
1.__________________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________________
3.__________________________________________________________
4.__________________________________________________________
5.__________________________________________________________
6.__________________________________________________________
7.__________________________________________________________
8.__________________________________________________________
The number of signature lines on each page of a printed petition may vary if necessary to
accommodate other required textual matter.
3.Each copy of a petition provided for in this section, before being filed, must have attached an
affidavit executed by the circulator in substantially the following form:
State of North Dakota )
) ss.
County of__________________)
(county where signed)
I,________________, being sworn, say that I am a qualified elector; that I S. B. NO. 2269 - PAGE 3
(circulator's name)
reside at____________________________;
(address)
that each signature contained on the attached petition was executed in my presence; and
that to the best of my knowledge and belief each individual whose signature appears on
the attached petition is a qualified elector; and that each signature contained on the
attached petition is the genuine signature of the individual whose name it purports to be.
_________________________________________
(signature of circulator)
Subscribed and sworn to before me on______________, _____, at
____________, North Dakota.
(city)
(Notary Seal) ______________________________________________
(signature of notary)
Notary Public
My commission expires_________________
4.A petition for recall must include, before the signature lines for the qualified electors as
provided in subsection 2, the name of the individual being recalled, the office from which that
individual is being recalled, and a list of the names and addresses of not less than five
qualified electors of the state, political subdivision, or district in which the official is to be
recalled who are sponsoring the recall.
5.For the recall of an elected official under article III of the Constitution of North Dakota,
circulators have one year to gather the required number of signatures of qualified electors on
the recall petition from the date the secretary of state approves the recall petition for
circulation. For the recall of an elected official under section 44-08-21 or section 3 of this Act ,
circulators have ninety days from the date the secretary of state approves the recall petition
for circulation to submit the recall petition to the appropriate filing officer.
6.A petition may not be circulated under the authority of article III of the Constitution of North
Dakota or, section 44-08-21, or section 3 of this Act by an individual who is less than eighteen
years of age, nor may the affidavit called for by subsection 3 be executed by an individual who
is less than eighteen years of age at the time of signing. All petitions circulated under the
authority of the constitution and of this section must be circulated in their entirety.
7.When recall petitions are delivered to the secretary of state or other filing officer with whom a
petition for nomination to the office in question is filed, the chairman of the sponsoring
committee shall submit to the secretary of state or other filing officer an affidavit stating that to
the best of that individual's knowledge, the petitions contain at least the required number of
signatures. The chairperson also shall submit a complete list of petition circulators which must
include each circulator's full name and residential address. The residential address must be in
this state and identify the circulator's street address, city, and zip code. Upon submission of
the petitions to the appropriate filing officer, the petitions are considered filed and may not be
returned to the chairman of the sponsoring committee for the purpose of continuing the
circulation process or resubmitting the petitions at a later time. An elector's name may not be S. B. NO. 2269 - PAGE 4
removed by the elector from a recall petition that has been submitted to and received by the
appropriate filing officer.
8.The filing officer has a reasonable period, not to exceed thirty days, in which to pass upon the
sufficiency of a recall petition. The filing officer may conduct a representative random sampling
of the signatures contained in the petitions by the use of questionnaires, postcards, telephone
calls, personal interviews, or other accepted information-gathering techniques, or any
combinations thereof, to determine the validity of the signatures. Signatures determined by the
filing officer to be invalid may not be counted and all violations of law discovered by the filing
officer must be reported to the state's attorney for possible prosecution.
9.The filing officer shall call a special recall election to be held no sooner than ninety-five days
nor later than one hundred five days following the date the filing officer certifies the petition
valid and sufficient. No special recall election may be called if that date would be within
ninety-five days of the next scheduled election.
10.A notice of the recall election must be posted in the official newspaper thirty days before the
candidate filing deadline, which is by four p.m. on the sixty-fourth day before the election. The
official notice must include the necessary information for a candidate to file and have the
candidate's name included on the ballot.
11.A special recall election may not be held if candidate filings are not received by the filing
officer before the candidate filing deadline. The filing officer shall declare the recall petition
ineffective, and the elected or appointed official may continue to serve the remainder of their
term. A notice of cancellation of the recall election due to no candidate filing received must be
posted in the official newspaper within fifteen days following the candidate filing deadline.
12.An official may not be recalled if the recall special election would occur within one year of the
next regularly scheduled election in which the official could be re-elected.
SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Subsection 1 of section 44-08-21 of the North Dakota Century Code is
amended and reenacted as follows:
1.An elected official of a political subdivision, except a township officer, an individual serving as
a member of a governing body of a city, park district, or as a member of a school board
subject to recall under section 3 of this Act, or an official subject to recall under section 10 of
article III of the Constitution of North Dakota, is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in
number to twenty-five percent of the voters who voted in the most recent election that the
official sought to be recalled was on the ballot, not including other recall elections. An official
who was appointed to fill a vacancy is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number
to twenty-five percent of the voters who voted in the most recent election that the office of the
official sought to be recalled was on the ballot, not including other recall elections. The
provisions of section 16.1-01-09.1, as they relate to signing and circulating recall petitions,
apply to petitions under this section.
SECTION 3. A new section to chapter 44-08 of the North Dakota Century Code is created and
enacted as follows:
Recall of elected members of a governing body of a city, park district, or school board.
1.An individual serving as a member of a governing body of a city, park district, or school board
is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number to thirty - five percent of the voters
who voted in the most recent election that the member sought to be recalled was on the ballot,
not including other recall elections. A member who was appointed to fill a vacancy is subject to
recall by petition of electors equal in number to thirty - five percent of the voters who voted in
the most recent election that the office of the member sought to be recalled was on the ballot,
not including other recall elections. The provisions of section 16.1 - 01 - 09.1, as they relate to
signing and circulating recall petitions, apply to petitions under this section, except petitions S. B. NO. 2269 - PAGE 5
circulated under this section must have fifteen petition sponsors if the city population is greater
than two hundred fifty or the school district has a fall enrollment of greater than two hundred
fifty. Each petition sponsor shall provide on the petition the sponsor's name and address. Each
petition sponsor must be a qualified elector of the city, park district, or the school district in
which the member subject to the recall is serving.
2.A recall petition must include a stated reason for the recall and be approved as to form before
circulation by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall complete the review of the
form of a recall petition in not less than five, nor more than seven, business days, excluding
Saturdays. To be effective, a recall petition must be submitted to the filing officer within ninety
days after the date the recall petition is approved for circulation by the secretary of state.
3.Once circulated, the recall petition must be filed with the filing officer with whom a petition for
nomination to the office in question is filed. The filing officer shall pass on the sufficiency of a
petition by reviewing every signature affixed to the petition. Except as otherwise provided in
this section, the filing officer shall call a special election to be held not sooner than ninety - five
days nor later than one hundred five days following the date the filing officer certifies the
petition valid and sufficient. A special election may not be called if that date would be within
ninety - five days of the next scheduled election. An elector's name may not be removed from a
recall petition that has been submitted to and received by the filing officer.
4.The name of the member to be recalled must be placed on the ballot unless the member
resigns within ten days after the filing officer certifies the petition is valid and sufficient. Other
candidates for the office may be nominated in a manner provided by law and shall file
nominating papers with the appropriate filing officer by the sixty-fourth day before the
scheduled recall election. A special recall election may not be held if candidate filings are not
received by the filing officer before the candidate filing deadline. The filing officer shall declare
the recall petition ineffective, and the member may continue to serve the remainder of the
member's term. A notice of cancellation of the recall election due to no candidate filing
received must be posted in the official newspaper within fifteen days following the candidate
filing deadline.
5.If the member resigns, the filing officer may call a special election or appoint an individual to
complete the unexpired term of the office. When the election results have been officially
declared, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected for the remainder of
the term.
6.A member is not subject to recall twice during the term for which the member was elected. A
member whose office is on the ballot at a regularly scheduled election occurring within
one year is not subject to recall if the recall special election would occur within one year of the
next regularly scheduled election in which the member could be re - elected. S. B. NO. 2269 - PAGE 6
____________________________ ____________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
____________________________ ____________________________
Secretary of the Senate Chief Clerk of the House
This certifies that the within bill originated in the Senate of the Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly of North
Dakota and is known on the records of that body as Senate Bill No. 2269.
Senate Vote:Yeas 46 Nays 0 Absent 1
House Vote: Yeas 56 Nays 32 Absent 6
____________________________
Secretary of the Senate
Received by the Governor at ________M. on _____________________________________, 2025.
Approved at ________M. on __________________________________________________, 2025.
____________________________
Governor
Filed in this office this ___________day of _______________________________________, 2025,
at ________ o’clock ________M.
____________________________
Secretary of State