My Obligation to You

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A central task of the Secretary is being the chief elections officer for the state. It will be my honor and it is my pledge that no one will care more about the rights of North Dakotans to have access to a ballot, to know their vote will be processed in accordance with the law, and have confidence the results of our elections will be diligently and duly counted and recorded. 

We’re going to make sure we lobby the legislature in their law-making processes to protect North Dakotans and protect the right to vote, to protect access to a ballot, to make sure they can submit the ballot with a justifiable belief the ballot will be accepted. The processes described in law and honed by non-partisan elections officials will be respected and increased ballot access - not less - will be of chief concern as I work to protect our democracy. 

I pledge submitted ballots will be counted and tallied and not randomly thrown out because of the politicization the GOP is visiting upon our elections nationwide. We have seen legislatures in other states declare they - not your county auditor and the canvassing board - show determine if a ballot count in your county was accurate. Given how unfriendly to local control this legislature can be, we must be ready to fight against that kind of concentration of control. My job is to protect all of us, every single North Dakotan and their right to vote and know their ballot will be properly handled, counted, and tallied. 

Citizens entitled to vote should get to vote, and it should be easy and there should be different ways to submit a ballot. No doubt, those who are not eligible shouldn’t get a ballot. We can agree to that basic notion and still all recognize the other side is going way too far in their contrivances to make our elections break their way.  

I will protect democracy - I will see this as job one. 

(Note: in a recent interview I indicated "there is a really terrific explanation of our voting systems on the Secretary of State's website." It describes the protocols and the safety measures in place. Read here.)