On June 9, North Dakota voters will decide Constitutional Amendment 1, which would, if approved, create a single-subject rule for future constitutional amendments.
A single-subject rule is a requirement for ballot measures to address a single subject, topic, or issue.
Constitutional Amendment 1 would also establish a separate-vote requirement for legislatively referred constitutional amendments. This is a constitutional provision featured in 32 state constitutions requiring that proposed constitutional amendments placed on statewide ballots must be decided by voters as separate ballot questions. In some states, constitutional amendments have been overturned after courts found that the amendments violated the state constitution's separate-vote requirement.
Under Constitutional Amendment 1, the secretary of state would be responsible for determining whether a constitutional amendment initiative embraces one or more subjects and would be prohibited from approving an initiative for circulation if the initiative is determined to include more than one subject.
State Sen. David Hogue (R-38), who supports Constitutional Amendment 1, said, “The single subject rule helps limit the content and complexity of constitutional amendments by holding the drafter and sponsors to focus on a single subject that is readily understandable by the voters. ... A second reason to limit proposed constitutional measures to a single subject relates to avoiding confusion and outright deception of voters. The single subject rule prohibits the so-called 'bait and switch' tactic.”
Mary Tintes, vice president of the League of Women Voters of North Dakota, opposes the measure, saying, “We’re just afraid that it’s going to be used as a tool against some of the initiated processes that we are using.”
Of the 26 states that provide for the citizen initiative and referendum process, 16 of them have a single-subject rule, while 10 do not. The most recent state to adopt a single-subject rule was Arizona, when voters approved Proposition 129 in 2022.
Thirteen (13) state constitutions require initiatives to abide by the single-subject rule, while the remaining three states (Alaska, Nevada, and Ohio) only have it in their statute.
This isn’t the first time North Dakota voters decided on a single-subject rule amendment. In 2024, voters decided Constitutional Measure 2, which would have established the single-subject rule for all citizen initiatives (both statutory and constitutional—while Constitutional Amendment 1, being decided in 2026, only provides the single-subject rule for amendments). Constitutional Measure 2 would have also increased the signature requirements for initiated constitutional amendments and required constitutional amendments to be passed twice in two consecutive general elections. Voters rejected Constitutional Measure 2, with 56% of voters opposed and 44% of voters in favor.
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