2020 North Dakota elections

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Registered	581,379[1]
Turnout	62.65%[1]

North Dakota held twostatewide elections in 2020: a primary election on Tuesday, June 9, and a general election on Tuesday, November 3. In addition, eachtownship elected officers on Tuesday, March 17, and each school district held their elections on a date of their choosing between April 1 and June 30.^[2]

On Tuesday, June 9, North Dakota voters selected which candidates for statewide and legislative office would appear on the November ballot. Because North Dakota does not have party registration, any eligible voter may vote in any one party's primary election. In addition, any number of constitutional amendments, initiated measures, or referred measures may be placed on the ballot by petition or legislative action.^[2]

The State of North Dakota does not provide for apresidential primary, but theDemocratic–NPL Party held afirehouse caucus on March 10, 2020, to select delegates to theDemocratic National Convention. As of June 13, 2019^[update], theRepublican Party had yet to announce plans for selecting delegates to theRepublican National Convention.^[3]

On Tuesday, November 3, concurrent withother statewide elections across the United States, North Dakota voters selected three electors to theUnited States Electoral College to elect thePresident of the United States, oneUnited States Representative to representNorth Dakota's at-large congressional district, theirgovernor (alongsidelieutenant governor), and a number of other statewide executive and judicial officials. Voters who lived in even-numbered legislative districts also selected their representatives to theNorth Dakota House of Representatives andNorth Dakota Senate. Finally, voters may face any number of constitutional amendments, initiated measures, or referred measures placed on the ballot by petition.^[2]

North Dakota voters selected a presidential candidate on their ballots; the candidate with the most votes would send their preselected electors to represent North Dakota in theElectoral College. The state of North Dakota has three electoral votes in the Electoral College, and so would send three electors.^[4]

Freshman incumbent RepublicanKelly Armstrong ran for re-election.

Republican incumbent governorDoug Burgum and lieutenant governorBrent Sanford, both serving their first terms in statewide elected office, ran together for re-election.

Incumbent RepublicanKelly Schmidt, the longest-servingTreasurer in the state's history, announced she would not seek re-election in 2020.^[6] In the primary, State RepresentativeThomas Beadle was elected to fill the open seat.

In theState Auditor race, incumbent RepublicanJosh Gallion, who provoked lawmakers' ire with his reviews in his first term, ran for re-election.^[7]

Polling

Result

In the election forInsurance Commissioner, incumbent RepublicanJon Godfread ran for re-election unopposed.

The election forSuperintendent of Public Instruction in North Dakota is nonpartisan. IncumbentKirsten Baesler, a registered Republican, ran for re-election.

One of three seats in the statePublic Service Commission went up for election. Incumbent RepublicanBrian Kroshus ran for re-election to a full six-year term.

Chief JusticeJon J. Jensen ran unopposed in a nonpartisan election to a ten-year term.

23 seats in theNorth Dakota Senate and 47 seats in theNorth Dakota House of Representatives were up for election.^[9] Voters in all even-numbered districts saw those races on their ballots. The outcome of this election could affectpartisan balance during post-censusredistricting.^[10]

Among the candidates for the North Dakota House, Republican candidateDavid Andahl, who died due toCOVID-19 in October 2020, eventually won a seat in theNorth Dakota House of Representatives.^[11][12][13]

Voters faced any number of constitutional measures and statutes initiated or referred to the ballot by petition.^[2]

Polling

Result

Constitutional Measure No. 1
Relating to the state board of higher education

Choice	Votes	%
No	242,004	72.52
Yes	91,706	27.48
Total votes	333,710	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	581,379	57.40
Source:[14]

Polling

Result

Constitutional Measure No. 2
Relating to initiated constitutional amendments

Choice	Votes	%
No	201,343	61.61
Yes	125,460	38.39
Total votes	326,803	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	581,379	56.21
Source:[14]

Partisan clients

• Vote.ND.gov, the official North Dakota Secretary of State election information portal
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association,"North Dakota",Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "North Dakota: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links",Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of North Dakota". (state affiliate of the U.S.League of Women Voters)
• North Dakota atBallotpedia

• 2020 North Dakota elections
• 2020 elections in the United States by state

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