Staff count packets of signed petitions in the Secretary of State’s Office on Feb. 9, 2024, in Bismarck. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(Jeff Beach – North Dakota Monitor) -North Dakota voters have rejected a statewide measure that would have made it harder for future measures to get on the ballot and pass.

Voters downed Measure 2 by 56% to 44% in complete but unofficial results.

Measure 2 was placed on the ballot by a vote of the state Legislature.

Carol Sawicki of the North Dakota League of Women Voters was among those who submitted testimony to the Legislature opposing the changes. She wrote that the single-subject rule was vague, residency requirements too onerous and the two-vote requirement was redundant and costly.

The primary sponsor in the Legislature was state Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, who said she wanted to help ensure that citizen-initiated measures came from the grassroots.

The main changes would have been:

One subject: Future ballot measures would be limited to a single subject.

Two votes: Ballot measures would need to be approved by voters twice — first during a statewide primary and again in the general election. Previously, a measure could be approved in either the primary or general election.

More signatures: Future petitions for constitutional ballot measures would need signatures from 5% of the North Dakota population to make the ballot, up from 4%.Residency requirements: Sponsors of the measure and petition circulators would need to be eligible to vote in North Dakota. In the past, some petition circulators were out-of-state residents hired to gather signatures. Those who sign petitions need to provide complete residential addresses and not just a postal address.