The North Dakota Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments later this month in a case challenging the eligibility of four Republican legislative candidates, including those nominated to represent districts in the Bismarck area. The outcome of this case could impact the general election, for which absentee voting began last month in North Dakota.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 21, by videoconference, according to the court. Filings from both sides in the case are due by Oct. 15.
Three Republican Party officials brought the challenge against GOP House nominees Blaine DesLauriers, Terry Goerger, Tim Mihalick, and Steve Sauter. These candidates are running in districts located in the Bismarck, Minot, and Richland County areas. Matt Evans, who chairs the District 25 GOP, outgoing Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, and Douglas Pearson, a District 7 GOP Executive Committee member, are the challengers. Both Evans and Hoverson lost their primary elections in June to DesLauriers, Goerger, and Mihalick.
The challengers allege that the office of Secretary of State Michael Howe inconsistently handled candidate petitions. They claim that Howe's office permitted some candidates to amend or correct incomplete petition signer information while rejecting others' petitions. Correspondence between state election officials and Brandon Prichard, who leads the conservative group Citizens Alliance of North Dakota, indicates that corrections were allowed, but not if petitions were submitted last-minute, according to court documents.
The Citizens Alliance of North Dakota is leading the court case. Prichard, a former state representative, has stated that the secretary of state "cannot invent extra-statutory curing rules for favored candidates." The challengers are seeking to have the four legislative seats declared vacant, with the aim of having them filled by appointment—a method that would favor the challengers.
Secretary of State Michael Howe has declined to comment on the Citizens Alliance case, citing the pending litigation. Candidate Steve Sauter previously told the North Dakota Monitor that he followed the law and trusts Howe’s office.
This legal challenge highlights divisions within North Dakota’s dominant Republican Party, particularly concerning how candidates qualify for the ballot, whether through party endorsement or by collecting petition signatures.
Further details regarding the court proceedings indicate that Justices Douglas Bahr and Jerod Tufte are disqualified from the case, though the reason for their disqualification is not clear.
Election-related challenges are not unusual for the North Dakota Supreme Court. In 2020 alone, the court removed an initiated measure from the general election ballot, disqualified a Democratic-NPL statewide candidate due to a residency dispute, and determined the process for filling a legislative candidate’s seat after they died during fall voting.
In a separate but related matter, the court on Wednesday denied a case brought by Michael Coachman. Coachman, a frequent candidate, sought to appear on the November ballot as an independent running for secretary of state. His petition fell short of the required signatures after Howe’s office rejected some due to incomplete information. The court’s one-page order did not elaborate on its reasoning for the denial.
