Elections in North Dakota
Federal government Presidential 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 1996 2000 2004 2008 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2004 2008 2012 2024 U.S. Senate 1889 1891 1893 1897 1899 1903 1905 1909 1911 1911 sp 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1926 sp 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 1946 sp 1950 1952 1956 1958 1960 sp 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1992 sp 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024 U.S. House 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1917 1st sp 1918 1920 1922 1924 2nd sp 1926 1928 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1963 1st sp 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
State government State elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Gubernatorial elections 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1921 (recall) 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Secretary of State elections 2018 2022 Attorney General elections 2018 2022 State Treasurer elections 2020 2024 State Auditor elections 2020 2024 State Senate elections 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 House of Representatives elections 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
Ballot measures 2004 Constitutional Measure 1 2022 Constitutional Measure 1
Fargo City elections 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Mayoral elections 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2015 2018 2022
Bismarck City elections 2020 2022 2024 2026 Mayoral elections 2022
Grand Forks City elections 2020 2024 Mayoral elections 2020 2024

Statewide elections in the U.S. state of North Dakota take place every two years. Most executive offices and all legislators are elected to four-year terms, with half the terms expiring on U.S. Presidential election years, and the other half expiring on mid-term election years.

In a 2020 study, North Dakota was ranked as the 8th easiest state for citizens to vote in.^[1]

North Dakota is the only state in the United States that does not require voter registration. The registration requirement was abolished in 1951. In general, any person over the age of 18 who has lived in a precinct for three or more months may vote in local, state or federal elections, without registration. In order to vote, however, a person must provide identification approved by the North Dakota Secretary of State as well as proof of entitlement to vote at the polling place before being permitted to vote.

For the 2016 election, the accepted forms of identification included a North Dakota driver's license, non-driver's ID card, tribal government issued ID card, or an identification card provided by a North Dakota long-term care facility. Neither a United States Passport nor a North Dakota College- or University-issued ID card^[2] are accepted forms of identification.

North Dakota is exempt from the requirements of the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Because of this exemption, North Dakota has since 2004 required voters to produce an approved form of ID before being able to vote, one of which was a tribe ID commonly used by Native Americans. It was common and lawful for a post office box to be used on this ID, instead of a residential address, because there are no street addresses on reservations. A change in 2016 required tribal ID to have a residential address to be accepted, and North Dakota has been accused of voter suppression with many Native Americans being denied a vote because they did not have an approved form of ID with a residential address.^[3]

North Dakota's ID law especially adversely affected large numbers of Native Americans, with almost a quarter of Native Americans in the state, otherwise eligible to vote, being denied a vote on the basis that they do not have proper ID; compared to 12% of non-Indians. A judge overturned the ID law in July 2016, also saying: "The undisputed evidence before the Court reveals that voter fraud in North Dakota has been virtually non-existent."^[4] However, the denial of a vote on this basis was also an issue in the 2018 mid-term election.^[3] Starting with the 2018 election, voters without proper identification can fill out a "set aside" ballot, which is only counted if the voter presents proper identification to a county official before the results are certified by the county canvassing board, which typically is six days after an election is held.^[5][6]

Each party holds a series of party conventions in the spring of election years to endorse candidates to the various partisan offices that are up that year; legislative candidates are endorsed at district conventions and statewide candidates are endorsed at a state convention. Those candidates are automatically placed on the primary election ballot, where they may or may not face competition from other candidates placed there by petition. The primary election winner then appears on the general election ballot. All primary elections in North Dakota are open to all qualified North Dakota electors, regardless of party affiliation.^[6]

Since the 1972 presidential election, North Dakota has sent three electors to the Electoral College, who the voters pick in a statewide first-past-the-post winner-take-all popular vote.

Like all US states, North Dakota sends two senators to the United States Senate. North Dakota's two senators are in classes 1 and 3. Senator John Hoeven was elected in 2010 and re-elected since, and Kevin Cramer was elected in 2018.

Since 1972, North Dakota has had a single seat in the United States House of Representatives; Kelly Armstrong currently fills the seat, the term for which expires every two years.

The North Dakota governor and lieutenant governor are elected every four years, concurrent with the federal presidential election. The two offices are elected together on a single ballot line.

Most of the other statewide executive offices are elected in a statewide popular vote for four-year terms. On presidential election years, voters select a State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Insurance Commissioner, all on a partisan ballot. They also select a Superintendent of Public Instruction on a nonpartisan ballot. On mid-term election years, voters select an Attorney General, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Tax Commissioner. In addition, every two years, voters select someone to fill a six-year seat on the Public Service Commission.

All members of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly—whether the House of Representatives or the Senate—are elected to four-year terms. Even-numbered legislative districts elect one senator and two representatives in presidential election years; odd-numbered districts do so in mid-term election years.

Members of the North Dakota Supreme Court are elected by the people on a nonpartisan ballot to ten-year terms, arranged so that one seat is up for election every two years.

Since the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, Republicans in North Dakota have introduced a number of bills that would tighten election laws in the state. House Bill 1289 would lengthen residency requirements for voters, requiring residency in the state of one year, and three months in a precinct, House Bill 1312 would place additional restrictions on who can vote absentee, and House Bill 1397 would adjust the congressional redistricting process.^[7] Senate Bill 2271, introduced by Republican Senator Robert Erbele and passed 43-3 (Republicans hold a 40-vote majority in the Senate), would withhold the state's vote count from the public until after votes in the Electoral College have been cast; the measure is intended to prevent the implementation of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a multi-state agreement to implement a national popular vote for the election of the president.^[a][8]

• 2024 North Dakota elections
• Political party strength in North Dakota
• United States presidential elections in North Dakota
• Women's suffrage in North Dakota

• Vote.ND.gov, the official North Dakota Secretary of State election information portal
• North Dakota on Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "North Dakota", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "North Dakota: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of North Dakota". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020