A prominent election integrity group is calling on North Dakota Republicans to override GOP Gov. Doug Burgum’s veto of legislation seeking to ban the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in elections.
“It’s unfortunate that Gov. Burgum would veto such commonsense legislation protecting the right to vote in free and fair elections voters can trust,” Ken Cuccinelli, the national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General, told The Federalist. RCV, he went on, “must always be rejected and we call on the legislature, which backed this bill with more than two-thirds majorities in each chamber” to employ “a veto override without delay.”
On Thursday, Burgum vetoed HB 1273, which seeks to prohibit the use of RCV “in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal elective office.” The measure passed the Senate last week (33-13) after previously clearing the House of Representatives (74-19) in February.
Under RCV, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes in the first round of voting, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and his votes are reallocated to the voter’s second-choice candidate. Such a process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes.
In a letter sent to North Dakota House Speaker Dennis Johnson on Thursday, Burgum claimed HB 1273 “undermines local control of local political subdivisions exercising their granted powers” under state law.
“House Bill 1273 blatantly infringes on local control and the ability of residents
