ND House advances bill to ban ranked choice and approval voting

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - The North Dakota House of Representatives advanced a bill that would ban certain voting methods.

House Bill 1273 would prohibit political subdivisions in North Dakota from instituting ranked choice voting and approval voting. Ranked choice voting isn’t used anywhere in North Dakota. Fargo uses approval voting for mayoral and city commission races. An amendment that would’ve exempted Fargo from the ban failed.

”30,000 people in the Fargo community voted for approval voting. 30,000,” said Rep. Lauriebeth Hager, D-Fargo.

If the bill becomes law, the city of Fargo would have to change the way votes are cast. It passed by a vote of 74 to 19. Next, it goes to the Senate.

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