North Dakota governor signs bill doing away with Fargo’s unusual voting system

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota’s governor signed a bill Wednesday to prohibit the unusual voting system used by his state’s largest city.

The bill signed by Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong bans ranked-choice and approval voting. Ranked-choice voting, in which voters rank their preferred candidates, is used in Alaska and Maine and various cities, but not in North Dakota. Voters select as many candidates as they want under approval voting; the top vote-getters win.

Fargo adopted approval voting via ballot initiative in 2018 and uses the system for electing the mayor and four city commissioners. The measure came after previous elections in which candidates won commission seats with just slivers of the overall vote in crowded races.

In 2018, before approval voting, the winning commission candidates received 18% and 16.5% of the vote, respectively. In the 2024 commission race, the two winners had support from 46% and 44.5% of voters. Three city elections have used approval voting.

Supporters, including Mayor Tim Mahoney, say approval voting works for Fargo. But the bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Ben Koppelman of West Fargo, said the system prefers “vanilla” candidates who don’t take hard stances. Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe supported the bill, saying North Dakota needs uniform elections.

In a statement, the governor said: “Now more than ever, we need a consistent, efficient and easy-to-understand voter experience across our entire state to maintain trust in our election system.”

In 2023, then-Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed a bill from Koppelman to ban Fargo’s system. He called the bill state overreach and a blatant infringement on local control. The House overrode the veto but the Senate sustained it.

Fargo’s mayor said city officials saw the end result coming, given the Legislature’s strong support for the bill.

“The people of Fargo liked approval voting. It worked for us, but we accept the legislative body. We accept the decision they made,” Mahoney said.

The city’s next election is in June 2026 for mayor and two City Commission seats.