Bill > HB1158

This bill creates a new provision in North Dakota law that establishes an exemption for certain petition-related records held by the secretary of state. Specifically, the bill makes records received by the secretary of state that are related to a petition to initiate or refer a measure confidential and exempt from public disclosure. These records will remain exempt until either the secretary of state has officially reviewed and determined the sufficiency of the petition (as outlined in section 16.1-01-10) or 35 days have passed since the secretary of state initially received the record, whichever occurs first. This means that during the initial review period, petition records will be kept private, which could protect the privacy of petition signers and prevent premature public scrutiny of potential ballot measures while they are being initially evaluated. The bill appears designed to provide a temporary confidentiality period for petition-related documents during their initial processing and review stage.

Government Affairs

https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/bill-overview/bo1158.html