A series of public meetings continues this week, giving North Dakotans a chance to learn about new efforts to change the rules for statewide ballot measures brought by citizens and policymakers. Groups from across the political spectrum are hosting the February meetings.

Organizers said they are worried about another push by the Republican-led Legislature to add restrictions making it tougher to amend the state constitution. Lawmakers placed questions on the upcoming primary and general election ballots, arguing more safeguards are needed when monumental decisions are put before voters.

Scott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, said current rules allow for direct democracy, where the people of North Dakota have a “check” on legislators’ power.

“That’s been something that North Dakota’s had for over a hundred years,” Skokos said. “We don’t need to start stripping away that power.”

One of the proposed changes calls for raising the approval threshold for ballot questions to 60% but Skokos pointed to other states with a supermajority rule, saying those voters are now hamstrung. Florida’s higher threshold is often cited by researchers for preventing high-profile measures from succeeding.

North Dakota voters also will be asked this year whether future ballot initiatives should be limited to a “single subject.” Republican lawmakers say voters might be misled if there’s too much language in a ballot question.

Skokos feels it is just a way of suppressing a person’s ability to think for themselves.

“The argument that the legislators make is that the voters don’t know what they’re voting on,” Skokos said. “My response to that is, I think the voters are smarter than the legislators think they are.”

Separate from ballot measure rules, another statewide question asks voters to revisit the thorny issue of term limits for legislators. The plan was approved in 2022, although it has resulted in a court battle, as current lawmakers seek to restructure how those term limits should work.