North Dakota Code 16.1-01-01 – Secretary of state to supervise election procedures – County administrator of elections
1. The secretary of state is, ex officio, supervisor of elections and may employ additional personnel to administer this title. The secretary of state shall supervise the conduct of elections and in that supervisory capacity has, in addition to other powers conferred by law, the power to examine upon the secretary of state’s request or the request of any election official, any election ballot or other material, voting system authorized by chapter 16.1-06, or device used in connection with any election, for the purpose of determining sufficient compliance with the law and established criteria and standards adopted by the secretary of state according to section 16.1-06-26. The secretary of state, upon determining any ballot or other material, voting system, or device is not in sufficient compliance with the law or established criteria and standards, shall direct the proper changes to be made, and in the case of voting systems, may decertify the voting systems according to the rules adopted under section 16.1-06-26.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 16.1-01-01
- Ballot: means a paper ballot from which the votes for candidates and questions are tabulated by hand or by a voting system. See North Dakota Code 16.1-06-12
- Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Voting system: means the system and devices authorized under this chapter which may employ a ballot marking device with use of a touchscreen or other data entry device to record and count votes in an election. See North Dakota Code 16.1-06-12
- year: means twelve consecutive months. See North Dakota Code 1-01-33
2. In addition to other duties provided elsewhere by law, the secretary of state shall:
a. Develop and implement uniform training programs for all election officials in the state.
b. Prepare information for voters on voting procedures.
c. Publish and distribute an election calendar, a manual on election procedures, and a map of all legislative districts.
d. Convene a state election conference of county auditors at the beginning of each election year and whenever deemed necessary by the secretary of state to discuss uniform implementation of state election policies.
e. Prescribe the form of all ballots and the form and wording of ballots on state referendum questions, issues, and constitutional amendments.
f. Investigate or cause to be investigated the nonperformance of duties or violations of election laws by election officers.
g. Require such reports from county auditors on election matters as deemed necessary.
h. Certify results of statewide elections.
i. Prepare and publish reports whenever deemed necessary on the conduct and costs of voting in the state, including a tabulation of election returns and such other information and statistics as deemed appropriate.
j. Establish standards for voting precincts and polling places, numbering precincts, precinct maps, maintaining and updating pollbooks, and forms and supplies, including but not limited to, ballots, pollbooks, and reports.
k. Prescribe the order in which each political subdivision will appear on an election ballot.
l. Develop and conduct a test election for the state’s voting system prior to each statewide election utilizing the votes cast within each county according to the logic and accuracy testing required in section 16.1-06-15.
3. In carrying out the secretary of state’s duties and to assure uniform voting opportunities throughout the state, and for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this title and any other requirement imposed upon the state by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 [Pub. L. 107-252; 116 Stat. 1666; 42 U.S.C. § 15301 et seq.] not otherwise addressed in this Act, the secretary of state may from time to time issue rules the secretary of state deems necessary, which must be consistent with the provisions of this title or the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and be adopted and published in accordance with chapter 28-32, but which need not comply with section 28-32-07.
4. In each county there must be a county administrator of elections who must be the county auditor. The county auditor is responsible to the secretary of state for the proper administration within the auditor’s county of state laws, rules, and regulations concerning election procedures.
5. In addition to other statutory duties, the county auditor shall:
a. Procure and distribute supplies required for voting in the county.
b. Prepare and disseminate voter information as prescribed by the secretary of state.
c. Fully comply with the test election required of this section.
d. Carry out uniform training programs for all county and precinct election officials as prescribed by the secretary of state.
e. Provide completed reports on election matters as required by the secretary of state.
f. Attend, or send a designee to attend, state election conferences convened by the secretary of state.
g. Comply with the form of the ballot as prescribed by state law and the secretary of state.
h. Comply with the standards for voting precincts and polling locations, numbering precincts, precinct maps, maintaining and updating pollbooks, and forms and supplies, including ballots, pollbooks, and reports as established by the secretary of state.
i. Assist with investigations initiated by the secretary of state under this section.
j. Receive and handle complaints referred to the county auditor by any voter or precinct official involving circulation of petitions, challenges to voters, actions of election officials, or irregularities of any kind in voting. The county auditor shall refer complaints to the secretary of state or the proper prosecuting authority, as the county auditor deems appropriate.
Upon completion of the duties required by this subsection, the county auditor shall certify to the secretary of state, in the manner prescribed by the secretary of state, that the duties have been completed. A knowing violation of this subsection is an offense under section 12.1-11-06.