3 days Ago By Rob Port
MINOT — If you look at a graph of the total number of ballots cast in North Dakota's general elections, it will show a steady upward trend. According to the not-yet-certified numbers from the Secretary of State's office, 371,314 ballots were cast in the general election this year. That's more than any other general election since 1980 and a nearly 2% increase over the total number of ballots cast in 2020, the last presidential election cycle, which, if you'll remember, was held during the pandemic and featured extraordinary voter outreach from state officials.
But the increase in the total number of ballots cast has more to do with population growth than increased civic engagement. From 2010 to 2022, our state's population grew 15.5%.
More people means more votes. The true measure of engagement is the turnout percentage, which is calculated by Secretary of State Michael Howe's office and shows the share of eligible voters who cast a ballot. And by that measure, North Dakota's trend is heading in the wrong direction.
The 2024 election showed a turnout of just over 62%, one of the lowest rates since 1980. General election turnout hasn't been at 65% or above in two decades. North Dakota voters are underperforming past turnout levels, and our neighbors are running up the score on us.
This year, Minnesota's general election turnout was over 76%. In Montana, it was over 73%. Even those hosers from Lesser Dakota managed a nearly 70% turnout this year.
My fellow North Dakotans, we're better than this. We need to take some significant, intentional steps toward boosting engagement from our electorate. To this end, I have some ideas.
The first is outreach. Thanks to our lack of voter registration, it's easier to cast a ballot here than any other state in the union. Still, voting does require adequate ID that reflects an up-to-date address.
The state should organize outreach teams to meet voters where they're at with the tools to get them what they need to vote. The Secretary of State's office could have a booth at community events like county fairs or trade shows where people can get a state ID, update their address, or, depending on how close we are to an election, pick up an application to vote absentee. We could also create roaming teams to visit the rural areas of our states at appropriate intervals to provide these services.
Think of it like a traveling bookmobile but for voting. We should leverage technology, too. Imagine a smartphone app that would alert voters when key dates arrive, such as the beginning of early voting.
They could also find voting locations and candidate information such as bios, website or social media links, and campaign finance filings. I'm open to other ideas, too. All of this is possible.
It would take time and money, but the investment would be worth it if it meant turning the trend around on North Dakota's declining engagement. Some voters are just apathetic. We may never reach them, but the perfect need not be the enemy of the good.
We can do better. We have to try..
