"North Dakota votes should be counted the same, whether they're cast for the mayor of Fargo, the dog catcher of Dickinson, or the governor of the whole dang state."
Attorney General Drew Wrigley released an opinion about a week before Election Day stating North Dakota has no constitutionally permissible method by which to require proof of citizenship to vote.
"What I've come to realize, as a grownup, is that while exercising one's franchise in an informed manner is important, as important is respecting the results of the election. Even if it doesn't go your way."
"It's not fair when you have limited income and you have to choose between gas money and food for the week. Having a polling site that is local, that people can walk to, like there have been in the past, does certainly make a difference," said Nicole Donaghy, executive director of North Dakota Native Vote.
The United States has one of the world's most fractured election administration systems, with different election authorities on various levels of government.
Democrats have accused Republicans at the state level of enacting policies to make it harder for racial minorities who tend to support Democratic candidates to cast ballots.
In 2020, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe initiated a lawsuit against several agencies in South Dakota for violations of the National Voter Registration Act, stemming from a lack of training and oversight. A settlement agreement handed down on Sept. 6 promises to change that reality.
Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick said his letter seeking an attorney general's opinion "was not written at the urging of any voting rights groups. I simply found the law was not as clear as it could be regarding proof of citizenship.
The draft's legal reasoning, if adopted by the court when it issues its eventual ruling by the end of June, could threaten other rights that Americans take for granted in their personal lives.
Eight known attempts to gain unauthorized access to voting systems in five U.S. states since the 2020 election involved local Republican officeholders or party activists who have advanced Trump’s stolen-election falsehoods or conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines.
There are nearly 90 state supreme court seats on the ballot nationally this year, and control of the top courts in Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan and Illinois are all in play.
