State Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
(. North Dakota Monitor) – A bill that expands North Dakota law against false political advertisements via social media, text messages or phone calls passed the Senate on Wednesday.
House Bill 1204, sponsored by Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England, passed on a 45-1 vote and will be sent back to the House for approval of an amendment introduced by Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck. The amendment added text messages and phone calls to the original bill that included social and commercial media posts.
“As election communications evolve, I think our laws need to change with it,” Cleary said.
Cleary was the campaign manager for U.S. House of Representatives candidate Julie Fedorchak during the 2024 election. On the day of the primary election, anonymous text messages were sent to North Dakota voters saying she had dropped out of the race, which she did not.
After news of the text messages broke, Fedorchak called a press conference and said, “This is, at minimum, election fraud, and it’s a desperate tactic to influence and discourage voters.”
