The voting machines are still warm from last week's primary election, and already we have concerns with repercussions of the newly approved Measure 1.
The measure essentially made it easier to make appointments of legislators to state jobs. In this case, it's an open seat on the Public Service Commission.
State Sen.?Randy Christmann, R-Hazen, is running against Democrat Brad Crabtree to fill the PSC slot vacated by Tony Clark, who resigned to take a federal regulatory job.
Under the North Dakota Constitution before Measure 1 was approved, Christmann would not have been eligible to be appointed to the job. That changed last week.
Christmann is now eligible to be appointed to the position by Gov. Jack Dalrymple, although he says he hasn't spoken to the governor about the idea. If it were to happen, Christmann could be appointed, then spend the next few months campaigning as an incumbent to be elected to the very same position that he already holds.
Perhaps Dalrymple will appoint someone else and avoid the whole messy matter altogether. That would seem to be the prudent thing to do rather than creating an immediate reason for opponents of Measure 1 to say "We told you so."