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Bill would move municipal bond votes to higher‑turnout elections; supporters cite engagement, critics warn of timing issues
Summary
House Bill 1482 would require municipal bond elections to occur at primaries or generals (the bill removes the special‑election option and substitutes a primary); supporters argued that primary/general turnout yields greater engagement, while school groups and others warned about bidding windows, inflation and long gaps between votes.
House Bill 1482, sponsored by Representative Scott Wagner, would amend North Dakota law to remove the option of holding required bond votes at special elections and instead require those votes to take place during a primary election (the sponsor urged the committee to consider general election timing as well).
Wagner told the committee he introduced the bill to increase voter engagement on municipal bonding decisions and said many special elections have “less than 7% voter…
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