§ 16.1-05-02 — Qualifications of members of the board of election - Oath of office

North Dakota § 16.1-05-02

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 16.1: Elections
• Ch. 16.1-05: Election Officers

Text

1. a. Except as provided in subdivisions b and d, every member of the election board
and each poll clerk must be a qualified elector of a precinct within the polling
place boundaries in which the individual is assigned to work and must be eligible
to vote at the polling place to which the individual is assigned unless the county
auditor has exhausted all means to appoint election judges and clerks from within
the voting precinct under subsection 2 of section 16.1-05-01.
b. A student enrolled in a high school or college in this state who has attained the
age of sixteen is eligible to be appointed as a poll clerk if the student possesses
the following qualifications:
(1) Is a United States citizen or will be a citizen at the time of the election at
which the student will be serving as a member of an election board;
(2) Is a resident of this state and has resided in the precinct at least thirty days
before the election; and
(3) Is a student in good standing attending a secondary or higher education
institution.
c. A student appointed as a poll clerk may be excused from school attendance
during the hours that the student is serving as a poll clerk, including training
sessions, if the student submits a written request to be absent from school signed
and approved by the student's parent or guardian and by the school administrator
and a certification from the county auditor stating the hours during which the
student will serve. A student excused from school attendance under this
subdivision may not be recorded as being absent on any date for which the
excuse is operative. No more than two students may serve as poll clerks on an
election board.
d. An individual who has attained the age of sixteen and has graduated from high
school or obtained a general education degree from an accredited educational
institution is eligible to be appointed as a poll clerk if the individual meets the
qualifications of paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision b.
2. An individual may not serve as a member of the election board or as a poll clerk if the
individual:
a. Has anything of value bet or wagered on the result of an election.
b. Is a candidate in that election.
c. Is the husband, wife, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter,
son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother, or sister, whether by birth or marriage, of the
whole or the half-blood, of any candidate in that election.
3. Before assuming the duties, each member of the election board and each poll clerk
severally shall take and subscribe an oath in substantially the following form:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be), that I will perform the duties
of inspector, judge, or clerk (as the case may be) according to law and to the best
of my ability, and that I will studiously endeavor to prevent fraud, deceit, and
abuse in conducting the same.
The oath may be taken before any officer authorized by law to administer oaths, and in
case no such officer is present at the opening of the polls, the inspector or election
judges shall administer the oath to each other and to the poll clerks. The individual
administering the oath shall cause an entry thereof to be made and subscribed by that
individual and prefixed to each pollbook.

4. An individual serving as a member of the election board, before each election, shall
attend a period of instruction conducted by the county auditor or the county auditor's
designated representative, provided that the period of instruction has been conducted
since the appointment of the election judges or election inspector.
5. If any member of the election board fails to appear at the hour appointed for the
opening of the polls, the remainder of the board shall select an individual to serve in
the absent individual's place. In filling a vacancy in the office of election judge, the
remainder of the board shall select an individual of the absent individual's political
party if such an individual is reasonably available. The office of election inspector or
clerk may be filled by any qualified individual without regard to political affiliation. If no
members of the election board appear at the hour appointed for opening the polls, the
qualified electors present shall call the county auditor, city auditor, or school business
manager, as appropriate, for instructions and then orally elect a board as nearly as
possible in conformity with this section.