A recall election in a town of about 45 people is expected to be among the first tests of North Dakota’s new voter identification law later this year. The new law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Doug Burgum in late April, goes into effect Saturday, July 1, along with a swath of other bills. July 1 marks the beginning of a new two-year funding cycle known as a biennium. Proponents of the new law said it will help protect the “integrity” of North Dakota elections while addressing concerns raised by a federal lawsuit over voter ID requirements passed in the previous two legislative sessions.
Still, a court order requiring the state to provide affidavits to voters who can’t produce a valid ID is still in effect, said Deputy Secretary of State Jim Silrum. He expects affidavits to be available alongside the procedures laid out in the new voter ID law during a City Council recall election in the small town of Courtenay, N.D., and a sales tax vote in Williston, both scheduled for October.
Those are the first elections scheduled after the new law takes effect, “at least to our knowledge,” Silrum said.
“It’ll actually give people more options for those elections,” he said. “We do need to have the court case decided or the judge has to make a ruling. Until then, the new law goes in place but the injunction still holds.”
Full Article: New ND voter ID law to go into effect | Grand Forks Herald.