§ § 16.1-12-02Certificates of nomination by petition - Form and contents.

Certificates of nomination for nominees for an office to be filled at a general or special
election, except for an office appearing on the no-party ballot, may be made as provided by this
section. Except for nominees for president of the United States, names of nominees so
nominated must appear on the ballot as independent nominations. The names of nominees for
president of the United States may appear on the ballot with a designation, not to exceed five
words, that names the organization or political party to which the presidential candidate
affiliates. The designation may not falsely indicate an affiliation with or the support of any
political party organized in accordance with this title or include any substantive word or phrase
that is profane or that is already included in or resembles the name of a political party entitled to
a separate column under section 16.1-11-30. Except for candidates for the office of president of
the United States, each certificate of nomination by petition must meet the specifications for
nominating petitions set forth in section 16.1-11-16. A political party or organization desiring to
submit to the secretary of state the name of a qualified candidate for the office of the president
of the United States may begin gathering the signatures for the certificate of nomination on the
first day of January of a presidential election year and shall submit the petition to the secretary
of state before four p.m. on the sixty-fourth day before the general election. The signatures on
the petition must be in the following number:
1. Except as provided in subsection 3, if the nomination is for an office to be filled by the
qualified electors of the entire state, there must be no fewer than one thousand
signatures.
2. If the nomination is for an office to be filled by the qualified electors of a district less
than the entire state, the number of signatures must be at least two percent of the
resident population of the district as determined by the most recent federal decennial
census, but in no case may more than three hundred signatures be required.
3. If the nomination is for the office of president, there must be no fewer than four
thousand signatures and the petition must contain the names of the presidential and
vice presidential candidates along with the names of the elector nominees and
alternate elector nominees for the office of the North Dakota presidential electors. The
elector nominees and alternate elector nominees must be qualified electors of North
Dakota.
4. If the petition is for the office of governor or lieutenant governor, it must contain the
names and other required information of candidates for both those offices.