Recall of elected members of a governing body of a city, park district, or school board
N.D. Cent. Code § 44-08-21.1
in effect44-08-21.1. Recall of elected members of a governing body of a city, park district, or
school board.
1. An individual serving as a member of a governing body of a city, park district, or school
board is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number to thirty-five percent of
the voters who voted in the most recent election that the member sought to be recalled
was on the ballot, not including other recall elections. A member who was appointed to
fill a vacancy is subject to recall by petition of electors equal in number to thirty-five
percent of the voters who voted in the most recent election that the office of the
member sought to be recalled was on the ballot, not including other recall elections.
The provisions of section 16.1-01-09.1, as they relate to signing and circulating recall
petitions, apply to petitions under this section, except petitions circulated under this
section must have fifteen petition sponsors if the city population is greater than
two hundred fifty or the school district has a fall enrollment of greater than two hundred
fifty. Each petition sponsor shall provide on the petition the sponsor's name and
address. Each petition sponsor must be a qualified elector of the city, park district, or
the school district in which the member subject to the recall is serving.
2. A recall petition must include a stated reason for the recall and be approved as to form
before circulation by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall complete the
review of the form of a recall petition in not less than five, nor more than seven,
business days, excluding Saturdays. To be effective, a recall petition must be
submitted to the filing officer within ninety days after the date the recall petition is
approved for circulation by the secretary of state.
3. Once circulated, the recall petition must be filed with the filing officer with whom a
petition for nomination to the office in question is filed. The filing officer shall pass on
the sufficiency of a petition by reviewing every signature affixed to the petition. Except
as otherwise provided in this section, the filing officer shall call a special election to be
held not sooner than ninety-five days nor later than one hundred five days following
the date the filing officer certifies the petition valid and sufficient. A special election may
not be called if that date would be within ninety-five days of the next scheduled
election. An elector's name may not be removed from a recall petition that has been
submitted to and received by the filing officer.
4. The name of the member to be recalled must be placed on the ballot unless the
member resigns within ten days after the filing officer certifies the petition is valid and
sufficient. Other candidates for the office may be nominated in a manner provided by
law and shall file nominating papers with the appropriate filing officer by the sixty-fourth
day before the scheduled recall election. A special recall election may not be held if
candidate filings are not received by the filing officer before the candidate filing
deadline. The filing officer shall declare the recall petition ineffective, and the member
may continue to serve the remainder of the member's term. A notice of cancellation of
the recall election due to no candidate filing received must be posted in the official
newspaper within fifteen days following the candidate filing deadline.
5. If the member resigns, the filing officer may call a special election or appoint an
individual to complete the unexpired term of the office. When the election results have
been officially declared, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected
for the remainder of the term.
6. A member is not subject to recall twice during the term for which the member was
elected. A member whose office is on the ballot at a regularly scheduled election
occurring within one year is not subject to recall if the recall special election would
occur within one year of the next regularly scheduled election in which the member
could be re-elected.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t44c08.pdf#nameddest=44-08-21p1Fetched: 10/16/2026