BISMARCK, N.D. — Supporters of a proposed poll measure that may set congressional age limits in North Dakota have one yr to assemble sufficient signatures to place the matter to a public vote.
Secretary of State Michael Howe on Friday authorized the petition format, beginning the timeline for these behind the measure to assemble the signatures of at the least 31,164 North Dakota voters.
Jared Hendrix, who heads the group behind the measure, informed The Associated Press the group is aiming to get it on the June 2024 major election poll.
“Our plan is to aggressively and quickly gather signatures before cold weather hits,” he stated.
The deadline is Feb. 12, but when the measure’s backers submit signatures after that date, it will go to the November 2024 normal election. The measure would amend the state’s structure and would wish a easy majority to cross.
Under the measure, nobody who may flip 81 years outdated by the tip of their time period might be elected or appointed to the state’s U.S. House or Senate seats.
Several present and former North Dakota Republican lawmakers, together with a number of the most conservative, assist the measure.
Hendrix, who led a profitable gubernatorial and legislative time period limits initiative final yr, informed the AP that supporters of the measure “believe in principle that there should be a retirement age for Congress,” citing the median age for retirement of all Americans being 64, “although many do work longer.”
One provision of the proposal requires a “ballot advisory” that may observe how outdated congressional candidates can be by the tip of their time period “in the event superior law requires age-limited candidates to appear on the ballot.”
North Dakota has a three-member congressional delegation and has had octogenarian officeholders up to now. U.S. Sen. Milton Young was 83 when he left workplace in 1981. U.S. Sen. Quentin Burdick died in workplace in 1992 at age 84.
It’s unclear if the proposed measure would stand as much as the U.S. Constitution, which doesn’t set most age limits.
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