North Dakota House Votes To Legalize Election Day Campaigning

Last year former NDGOP Chairman Gary Emineth filed a lawsuit over a state law which prohibits political speech on election day. The law, which is so broad it make everything from political yard signs to conversations with your neighbors about candidates illegal on election day, was found to be unconstitutional by a federal court for obvious reasons.

Today the House voted on an amendment to a Senate bill which would replace current law with a prohibition on political campaigning within 100 feet of a polling place (which exempts private property).

We can all gripe about the length of the campaign season, and if polled most North Dakotans would probably say that they like the election day campaigning ban, but free speech means free speech. And North Dakota has no business keeping unconstitutional laws on the books.