Bill would put presidential candidates’ full names on general-election ballots

Rep. Liz Conmee introduced House Bill 1099 to require presidential candidates’ full names — by statute — on North Dakota’s general-election ballot, saying the change would avoid voter confusion and align the presidential-ballot wording with other candidate-name rules.

Conmee said that during the last election the ballot showed only surnames for the presidential column and that several election judges reported voters asking for first names. She said Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office supported clarifying the statute so ballots would display the candidate name the same way other offices are printed.

Sandy McMurdie, deputy in the Secretary of State’s office, testified that the statute has historically read “surname” for the presidential entry and that practice has resulted in ballots showing only last names. McMurdie told the committee the proposed change would match the candidate-name language used for other offices and likely reduce voter confusion.

Committee members asked about nicknames and middle initials. McMurdie and elections staff said a candidate may generally use a commonly known nickname (for example, “Sally” for Rosella) so long as the name reasonably corresponds to how the candidate is publicly known; middle initials and commonly used forms are allowed under existing practice. The committee closed the hearing on the bill with no opposition testimony presented at the meeting.

The measure’s wording was discussed and staff noted an amendment that replaces the phrase “first and last name” with the broader term “name” to match the candidate-registration language used elsewhere in statute.