North Dakota voters banned lawmakers from seeking term limit changes. They did it anyway

BISMARCK, N.D. — When North Dakota voters approved term limits for state legislators, they specified that the Legislature couldn’t seek to change the new restrictions.

On Wednesday, the state House opted to propose a big change, anyway.

‘‘You have plain language in the constitution restricting what the Legislature can do,‘’ said Republican Rep. Jared Hendrix, the leader of the term limit ballot initiative in 2022.

The Senate earlier passed the measure. Now it appears set up for the November 2026 election.

The 2022 measure, which amended the state constitution, said the Legislature ‘’shall not have authority to propose an amendment to this constitution to alter or repeal the term limitations established in ... this article.‘’

Supporting lawmakers said many voters mistakenly thought the 2022 measure was for congressional term limits. Others said the Legislature needs institutional knowledge that is built over years.

‘‘We’ve got to vote this in, and we’ve got to convince the people that this is a lot better plan than what we’ve got on the books right now,‘’ Republican Rep. David Monson said.

Opposing representatives said voters’ support for term limits was by a huge margin, and lawmakers can pursue a measure for a ballot initiative if they want changes.

‘‘Do you really, honestly think that the people that voted 60-some percent for this measure that they’re going to now all of a sudden turn around and go, ‘Yeah, I’d like to give you guys an extra eight years to stick around,’ ‘’ Republican Rep. Steve Vetter said.

The term-limit clock took effect Jan. 1, 2023, restricting lawmakers to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Their previous experience doesn’t count. The governor also can’t be elected more than twice. No one has been term-limited out of office yet.

The measure set for voters would change the term limits to four complete four-year terms in the Legislature; a term of less than four years would not count toward the limit. The measure also would repeal the prohibition on the Legislature to make changes to term limits.

Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, who supports the measure, said he hasn’t formed a firm opinion on whether the Legislature’s move is legal.

The measure ‘’just says it’s 16 years — doesn’t matter whether you’re in one chamber or the other — and it’s a full 16 years, so I thought it had some fidelity to the measure that the people passed, although it’s not exactly what they passed," Hogue said.

Hendrix said the secretary of state, North Dakota’s top election official, might seek an attorney general opinion about whether the measure can go on the ballot.

Telephone and text messages seeking comment were left with Secretary of State Michael Howe. A text message also was left with Attorney General Drew Wrigley.

North Dakota’s Republican-run Legislature regularly meets every two years, in odd-numbered years.