Voters wait in line at the polling site at West Acres on primary Election Day.
By: Amy Dalrymple and Jeff Beach
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A petition for a ballot measure related to transparency of lawmaker records, legislative salaries and lobbying has been resubmitted to the North Dakota secretary of state, this time from different sponsors.
The petition for a statewide vote is identical to one submitted to the secretary of state on Feb. 7 but withdrawn on Feb. 10.
The petition proposes a constitutional ballot measure that would require all lawmaker communications regarding legislative business to be open records.
It also would require lawmakers to disclose conflicts of interest or face potential penalties, would prevent lawmakers from voting on their own pay raises and prevent them from receiving health insurance or other benefits. The measure also proposes that former legislators can’t work as lobbyists for four years after leaving office.
The chief sponsor of the petition submitted Wednesday is Paul Sorum of Fargo, who had unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 2012 and 2016.
“I think people want this transparency. They want openness. They want to know what people in government are doing and that’s been a real challenge lately,” Sorum told the North Dakota Monitor.
Sorum said legislators being able to vote on their own pay increases and getting a premium health insurance package for a part-time job is not fair.
He also said people shouldn’t run for the Legislature just so they can become a lobbyist at the end of their term.
The chief sponsor of the petition submitted Feb. 7 was Jerol Gohrick of McGregor.
Secretary of State Michael Howe said Gohrick did not provide a reason for requesting that the petition be withdrawn. Gohrick did not respond to a request for comment earlier this month.
The latest version of the petition has several new sponsors including Michael Coachman, a former running mate of Sorum who ran as an independent candidate for governor last November.
The secretary of state and attorney general have up to seven business days to draft a petition title. If the petition is approved for circulation, the sponsors would need to gather more than 31,164 qualified signatures. To be on the June 2026 primary ballot, the signatures would need to be submitted by Feb. 9, 2026.
Also this week, Howe approved the format of a petition that seeks to revise North Dakota statutes to allow vehicle window tinting “at any level the individual chooses it to be.” The sponsors have up to one year to collect 15,582 valid signatures to place it on the ballot. To appear on the June 2026 primary ballot, the deadline is Feb. 9, 2026.
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