A small band of North Dakotaright-wingers have brought back their proposal to restrict voting as an amendment to the state constitution. This is the second attempt for them but it is no better than the first one.

Will 32,000 North Dakotans be gullible enough to sign their petition to get the measure on the ballot? While the right to propose constitutional amendments belongs to the people, the cost of educating the public about the hazards of the proposal will require thousands of dollars, wasted because we’ve been down this road before.

Stopping citizens

On the other side is the North Dakota legislature that has put a measure on the 2024 November ballot to make amendments to the constitution by citizens impossible. Amendments proposed by citizens would have to gain approval in two consecutive elections instead of just one as now.

The double approval would not apply to constitutional amendments proposed by the legislature, making it obvious that the legislature wanted to curb constitutionalism amendments by citizen petitions and hog the constitution for itself. 

Because the citizenry eventually gets wise to maneuvers by interest groups and the legislature, both measures will fail. Why would any North Dakota citizen would want to give up initiative rights they have had for over 100 years? They won’t.

Measures will fail

Attempts to restrict voting are rampant across America. Until now, we have held that every human being in the United States is qualified to vote for being a human being – a civic manifestation of the dignity and sanctity of humanhood.

But a recent sweeping survey of the public attitude by PEW Research says we are no longer happy but hope for something else. It sounds like anything else.

In this land of milk and honey, according to PEW only 4% of the people think the political system is working well.

Down with parties

PEW found that positive views of governmental and political institutions are at historic lows, with just 16% saying they trust the federal governments most of the time. And a growing share of the public dislikes political parties. 

According to PEW, 63% are dissatisfied with the candidates running. For good measure, majorities in the study favor term limits for Congress, abolishing the electoral college, and putting age limits on federal officeholders. Fifty-five percent are angry. 

As far as citizens are concerned, money has corrupted the system, especially since the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were persons that could pour money into politics.

While people may express these negative views about the system, when push comes to shove, they are not in the fray. 

Multi-party worse

They don’t like the 2-party system but a multi-party system would be worse; they don’t trust the government but those Social Security checks are always on time; is it the old people or the middle-aged in Congress that bog the process down?

North Dakota voters just approved term limits so it is too early to measure the consequences. The present legislature brought that on themselves – it has been crossways with public opinion on a number of key issues.

There is presently a campaign to circumvent the Constitution to dump the electoral college. This has been a pervasive issue. You should know right off the bat North Dakota would oppose junking the electoral college because it gives us more than our share of influence in electing a president. 

On a per capita basis, North Dakotans have at least three times its share, compared to California and New York.

When the chips are down we are not as ready to make changes as we are to propose them. Democracy is still the best form of government even though it is a constant mess that needs repair.