§ 16.1-06-09 — Constitutional amendments and initiated and referred measures - Manner of stating question - Fiscal impact statement - Explanation of effect of vote - Order of listing

of stating question - Fiscal impact statement - Explanation of effect of vote - Order of
listing.
1. Constitutional amendments or measures, initiated measures, and referred measures,
duly certified to the county auditor by the secretary of state, or any other question or
measure to be voted on, except the election of public officers at any primary, general,
or special election including officers subject to a recall petition, must, unless otherwise
determined by the secretary of state, be stated in full in a legible manner on the ballot.
If the secretary of state concludes the amendment or measure is too long to make it
practicable to print in full, the secretary of state in consultation with the attorney
general shall cause to be printed a concise summary written in plain, clear,
understandable language using words with common, everyday meaning which must
fairly represent the substance of the constitutional amendment or initiated or referred
measure. After the foregoing statement, the secretary of state shall cause to be printed
a statement of the estimated fiscal impact of the constitutional amendment or initiated
or referred measure and a concise statement of the effect of an affirmative or negative
vote on the constitutional amendment or initiated or referred measure written in plain,
clear, understandable language using words with common, everyday meaning. This
explanatory statement must be drafted by the secretary of state in consultation with
the attorney general. The words "Yes" and "No" must be printed on the ballot at the
close of the statement regarding the effect of an affirmative or negative vote, in
separate lines with an oval before each statement in which the voter is to indicate how
the voter desires to vote on the question by darkening the oval. If two or more
amendments or questions are to be voted on, they must be printed on the same ballot.
2. The measures to be submitted to the electors must be grouped and classified as
constitutional measures, initiated statutes, or referred statutes and must be placed
within such groups or classifications by the secretary of state in the order received, for
the purpose of placing them on the ballot. Measures submitted by the legislative
assembly must be placed first on the ballot within their classification in the order
approved by the legislative assembly. Constitutional measures shall be placed first on
the ballot, initiated statutes second, and referred statutes third. After all the measures
have been placed within the appropriate group or classification, all measures must be
numbered consecutively, without regard to the various groups or classifications.