Port: Second iteration of misnomered ‘election integrity’ measure is as appallingly stupid as the first one
“I Voted” stickers are ready for voters to take after they hand in their ballots at West Acres mall in south Fargo, N.D. on Tuesday, November 04, 2014. Carrie Snyder / The Forum
MINOT — Earlier this month, a bunch of election conspiracy cranks sought approval to circulate a ballot measure that would have made sweeping changes to the way North Dakota’s elections and initiated measure process works.
In true Orwellian fashion, they called their proposal — which would have made voting harder and elections more expensive while basically legalizing petition fraud — the “Election Integrity Act.”
It is a hallmark of this toxic political era that so many of those braying the loudest about “integrity” have so little of it themselves.
But I digress.
This merry band of boobs withdrew the first iteration of their measure, complaining that the ballot title written by Secretary of State Michael Howe, and approved by Attorney General Drew Wrigley, was too long. The problem is, their ballot measure made nearly 50 distinct changes to state law, and section 16.1-01-09 of the North Dakota Century Code requires Howe to draft, as the ballot title, “a short and concise statement that fairly represents the measure.”
