North Dakota lawmakers are considering whether to keep candidates’ and public officials’ home addresses confidential.
Lawmakers on at the Capitol say the legislation is needed after last year’s attack in Minnesota that killed House leader Melissa Hortman and her husband. The Legislative Council already removed lawmakers’ home addresses from the Legislature’s website after those shootings. A legislative committee on Wednesday reviewed a draft that would extend those privacy protections further, and shield a wider range of candidates from having their addresses public. School board candidates, for example, could apply for the confidentiality under the proposed law.
Supporters of the bill say the measure is needed to improve safety while still allowing election officials to verify residency. Some lawmakers and Secretary of State Michael Howe are opposing the bill, say making those addresses private will make it harder for the public to determine if candidates for office actually live in the districts they represent. Secretary Howe says multiple candidates who have filed to run this year were found to not live in the districts they were attempting to run in.
If passed, the proposal would not affect the 2026 election cycle and is still currently in committee.
The North Dakota Monitor has in-depth reporting on the measure HERE.
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