---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 16.1-01 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to prohibiting approval voting and ranked-choice voting in elections; and to amend and reenact subsection 7 of section 11-09.1-05 and subsection 9 of section 40-05.1-06 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to home rule powers in counties and cities."
description: "Relating to prohibiting approval voting and ranked‑choice voting in elections; and to amend and reenact subsection 7 of section 11‑09.1‑05 and subsection 9 of section 40‑05.1‑06 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to home rule powers in counties and cities."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nd"
legislature: "North Dakota Legislative Assembly"
session: "69"
identifier: "HB 1297"
citation: "North Dakota HB 1297 (69)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ben Koppelman"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 20
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-13"
last_action: "2025-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f20fdb3c-ad2f-44ad-aa95-006a8e54246c"
source_url: "https://ndlegis.gov/api/assembly/69-2025/data/bills.json"
source_hash: "e98517df3ec47c07e916f03bbdf27eebbc018f12bfbc1edefd48e88423551a39"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nd"]
---

# North Dakota HB 1297 (69) — AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 16.1-01 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to prohibiting approval voting and ranked-choice voting in elections; and to amend and reenact subsection 7 of section 11-09.1-05 and subsection 9 of section 40-05.1-06 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to home rule powers in counties and cities.

Relating to prohibiting approval voting and ranked‑choice voting in elections; and to amend and reenact subsection 7 of section 11‑09.1‑05 and subsection 9 of section 40‑05.1‑06 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to home rule powers in counties and cities.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **INTRODUCED** (filed) — [source](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0495-01000.pdf)
2. **Enrollment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0495-03000.pdf)

## Votes

- Motion for Final Passage on HB 1297 — **38–8** (pass) · upper
- Motion for Final Passage on HB 1297 — **75–16** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ben Koppelman — primary (person)
- Bob Paulson — cosponsor (person)
- David A. Clemens — cosponsor (person)
- Diane Larson — cosponsor (person)
- Jim Kasper — cosponsor (person)
- Jose L. Castaneda — cosponsor (person)
- Mark Enget — cosponsor (person)
- Matthew Heilman — cosponsor (person)
- Mike Wobbema — cosponsor (person)
- Pat D. Heinert — cosponsor (person)
- Scott Louser — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-13** Introduced, first reading, referred Government and Veterans Affairs Committee `introduction`
- **2025-01-30** Committee Hearing 10:30
- **2025-01-30** Committee Hearing 04:00
- **2025-02-17** Reported back, do pass, place on calendar 6 4 4 `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-18** Second reading, passed, yeas 75 nays 16 `passage, reading-2`
- **2025-02-19** Received from House
- **2025-02-20** Introduced, first reading, referred Judiciary Committee `introduction`
- **2025-03-24** Request return from committee
- **2025-03-24** Rereferred to State and Local Government
- **2025-03-27** Committee Hearing 03:30
- **2025-04-07** Reported back, do pass, place on calendar 4 2 0 `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-08** Amendment proposed on floor `amendment-introduction`
- **2025-04-08** Amendment failed `amendment-failure`
- **2025-04-08** Second reading, passed, yeas 38 nays 8 `passage, reading-2`
- **2025-04-09** Returned to House
- **2025-04-14** Signed by President
- **2025-04-15** Signed by Speaker
- **2025-04-15** Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-04-18** Signed by Governor 04/16 `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-21** Filed with Secretary Of State 04/16 `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f20fdb3c-ad2f-44ad-aa95-006a8e54246c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Dakota legislature records).