//Run for office · North Dakota

How to run for local office in North Dakota

North Dakota has no voter registration, so the 'voter file' is the state's Central Voter File of people who have voted or been issued a ballot, and only candidates, parties, and committees can get it.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

North Dakota is the only state without voter registration. A voter shows an ID with a current address at the polls, affirms 30 days of residence in the precinct, and votes. What the state keeps instead is the Central Voter File (NDCC chapter 16.1-02): a statewide database built from driver's license records and every pollbook since 2008, listing everyone who has voted or been issued a ballot, with four years of voting history. That is the file campaigns use, and it is available only to candidates, political parties, and political committees for election-related purposes.

Local filing is spread across four officials: county auditors for county offices, city auditors for city and park offices, school business managers for school boards, and township clerks for townships. City and county races are in even years on the June primary; school boards elect every year on a date each board picks between April 1 and June 30; townships vote in March. Campaign finance reporting reaches only cities of 5,000 or more and school districts with 1,000 or more students, and North Dakota has no dollar limit on individual contributions.

Election authority: North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Unit
Voter file: Restricted — limited requesters or uses
Campaign finance: North Dakota Secretary of State (forms and rules); local filing officers (city auditor, county auditor, school business manager)
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: None. There is no registration to complete. Your ID address must be current; a Department of Transportation address change takes about two business days to reach the Central Voter File. If your ID lacks a current address, the SOS lists supplemental documents on its Forms of Voter ID page.
Local offices: City, school board, park, and township offices are nonpartisan; a city petition may not even reference a party (NDCC 40-21-06). County offices are no-party as well: the top two vote-getters in the June primary advance to November (SOS filing guide). Legislative and statewide offices are partisan.

Who runs elections in North Dakota

North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Unit The Secretary of State maintains the Central Voter File with the 53 county auditors, publishes the Election and Candidate Filing Guide with every filing date, takes filings for statewide, legislative, and judicial candidates, runs the Vote.ND.Gov portal (absentee and early-vote counts, ballot tracking, polling places), and prescribes the campaign disclosure and Statement of Interests forms that local candidates file with their own filing officer. Its Elections Unit ((701) 328-4146, soselect@nd.gov) handles voter list requests.

County auditors are the chief custodians of the Central Voter File in their counties (NDCC 16.1-02-01): they enter new voters after each election, run polling places and vote centers, decide whether to open an early-voting precinct, issue absentee ballots, and accept petitions for county offices. City auditors run city elections (usually under an agreement with the county so the city election rides the June primary), school district business managers run school elections, and township clerks run March township elections. The SOS lists all 53 county election officials.

Getting the North Dakota voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In North Dakota it comes from North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Unit (Central Voter File); county auditors for county extracts.

Access: Restricted — limited requesters or uses
Cost: Confirm with North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Unit (Central Voter File); county auditors for county extracts
Format: Confirm with North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Unit (Central Voter File); county auditors for county extracts
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Not included
Updated: Continuous. County auditors post voting history for everyone who voted before the end of each election's contest period, add new voters before the county canvass, and process address changes from the Department of Transportation and returned mail; the SOS marks voters inactive after four years without voting (NDCC 16.1-02-05, 16.1-02-09, 16.1-02-10).

Who can get it: Only a candidate, political party, or political committee, and only for election-related purposes (NDCC 16.1-02-15). Request it from the SOS Elections Unit at soselect@nd.gov or (701) 328-4146, or ask your county auditor for a county or precinct list; there is no online order page.

Permitted use: Election-related purposes only. Anything you obtain may not be sold or distributed for a purpose that is not election-related (NDCC 16.1-02-15).

County option: Yes. County auditors are the custodians of the file for their county and generate pollbooks, reports, and voter lists from it (NDCC 16.1-02-01, 16.1-02-13); for a city or school race, ask the auditor for the precincts inside your boundary.

What you can get (NDCC 16.1-02-12 and 16.1-02-15): legal name, residential and mailing address, the state-assigned unique ID, eligibility status, county, legislative district, city or township, school district, county commissioner district, precinct name and number, and voting history (four years are kept, beginning in 2008).
Date of birth and driver's license or non-driver ID numbers are exempt and never released; records flagged 'secured active' (protection-order holders) are withheld entirely. The statutory field list has no phone number.
Because there is no registration, the file only contains people who have voted, been issued a ballot, or were loaded from Department of Transportation records; a new resident who has never voted in North Dakota may not be in it.
Voters who have not voted in four years are marked inactive but stay in the file (NDCC 16.1-02-10); inactive does not mean ineligible.
The SOS may charge the cost of producing a list (NDCC 16.1-02-15); ask for the current charge when you request it.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in North Dakota

Local candidates get on the ballot by petition, with no filing fee. City candidates file a petition signed by 10 percent of the votes cast for that office at the last city election (never more than 300) with the city auditor; county candidates file a petition signed by 2 percent of the last vote for the office (maximum 300) with the county auditor; school board candidates file a simple statement of candidacy, with no signatures, with the school business manager. Every local filing also needs a Statement of Interests (SFN 10172). All are due before 4 p.m. on the 64th day before the election.

File with: City auditor (city and park offices); county auditor (county offices); school district business manager (school board); township clerk (township offices)
Filing fee: None for county, city, school district, or township offices
Petition: City: 10 percent of the votes cast for the office at the last city election, capped at 300, signed by voters of the ward or the city at large (NDCC 40-21-07). County: 2 percent of the votes cast for the office at the last election, capped at 300 (NDCC 16.1-11-11). School board: none; file a statement with your name and the position (NDCC 15.1-09-08). Petitions may not be circulated or signed before January 1 of the election year.
Partisan?: City, school board, park, and township offices are nonpartisan; a city petition may not even reference a party (NDCC 40-21-06). County offices are no-party as well: the top two vote-getters in the June primary advance to November (SOS filing guide). Legislative and statewide offices are partisan.

Filing window: Petitions and statements must be in the filing officer's possession before 4 p.m. on the 64th day before the election (NDCC 40-21-07, 16.1-11-11; SOS filing guide), and may not be circulated before January 1 of the election year. City elections and the county primary are on the second Tuesday in June in even years (NDCC 40-21-02), so the next deadline is 4 p.m. April 10, 2028. School boards pick a date between April 1 and June 30 each year, and the 64-day rule runs from whatever date the board chose (NDCC 15.1-09-22).

Key North Dakota dates
What	When	Note
Township elections, 2027	Varies	Held in March at the township board's discretion; many use the third Tuesday (March 16, 2027). Ten days' notice; no absentee voting in township elections (NDCC 58-04-01).
School board elections, 2027	Varies	Each board sets a date between April 1 and June 30, 2027 (NDCC 15.1-09-22); many use the second Tuesday in June (June 8, 2027). File with the business manager by 4 p.m. on the 64th day before.
City and county candidate petition deadline, 2028	April 10, 2028	4 p.m. on the 64th day before the June 13, 2028 election (NDCC 40-21-07, 16.1-11-11); petitions may circulate from January 1, 2028
City elections and county primary, 2028	June 13, 2028	Second Tuesday in June in even years (NDCC 40-21-02); absentee ballots available 40 days before (NDCC 16.1-07-04)
County general election, 2028	November 7, 2028	First Tuesday after the first Monday in November; the top two from the June primary appear for each county office

For comparison, the SOS 2026 guide's dates: petitions due 4 p.m. Monday, April 6, 2026 for the June 9, 2026 primary; withdrawal by April 8; write-in certificates (not required for county, city, or school candidates) by May 19.
A city must publish notice of the filing deadline and the offices on the ballot 30 days before the deadline (NDCC 40-21-02), which is your cue that the filing period is real.

Campaign finance rules in North Dakota

State-level campaign finance in North Dakota is overseen by North Dakota Secretary of State (forms and rules); local filing officers (city auditor, county auditor, school business manager).

Where local candidates file: You file with the officer who took your petition, not with the state: county candidates with the county auditor, city and park board candidates with the city auditor, school board candidates with the school business manager. Two forms: the Statement of Interests (SFN 10172), filed with your candidacy in an election year and annually while in office, and the Campaign Disclosure Statement (SFN 53970). Disclosure applies to all county candidates, to city candidates only in cities with 5,000 or more residents, and to school board candidates only in districts with a fall enrollment of 1,000 or more (SOS pamphlet; NDCC 16.1-08.1-02.3).

Contribution limits: North Dakota sets no dollar limit on contributions from individuals to any candidate; NDCC chapter 16.1-08.1 contains no cap. The only restriction is the ban on contributions from corporations, cooperative corporations, LLCs, and associations (which includes unions and any dues-paying group), which may instead form a separate segregated fund (NDCC 16.1-08.1-03.3). Contributions over $200 in aggregate from one donor must be itemized by name and address; contributions over $500 from one donor in the 39 days before an election trigger a 48-hour report.

Reporting: Pre-election statement due before the 31st day before the primary or general, covering January 1 through the 40th day before the election (it may be filed from the 39th day before); 48-hour statements for any contributor whose gifts exceed $500 in the 39 days before the election; a year-end statement covering the rest of the year; and the Statement of Interests with your petition and annually (NDCC 16.1-08.1-02.3; SOS local government offices page).

Candidates in cities under 5,000 and school districts under 1,000 students file only the Statement of Interests, not contribution reports (SOS 'Running for School Board' guide).
A 'candidate' includes anyone who has circulated a petition, formed a committee, or solicited or received a contribution, not just people whose names are on the ballot.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with North Dakota Secretary of State (forms and rules); local filing officers (city auditor, county auditor, school business manager) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in North Dakota

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. No registration: a voter brings a North Dakota driver's license, non-driver ID, tribal ID, or long-term care certificate showing a current address, affirms 30 days of precinct residency, and votes. Any qualified elector may vote absentee in any state, county, city, or school election (NDCC 16.1-07-01), and several counties are vote-by-mail counties that mail an absentee application to every voting-age resident.

Early voting: A county option: county commissioners may open an early voting precinct for the 15 days before a primary, general, or county election (NDCC 16.1-07-15); the SOS polling-place lookup shows which counties offer it.
Mail ballots: Absentee ballots must be printed and available 40 days before the election (NDCC 16.1-07-04). Applications are accepted any time in the election year and can cover every election that year; nobody receives a ballot without applying, even in vote-by-mail counties. City and school absentee ballots come from the city auditor or school business manager.
Registration deadline: None. There is no registration to complete. Your ID address must be current; a Department of Transportation address change takes about two business days to reach the Central Voter File. If your ID lacks a current address, the SOS lists supplemental documents on its Forms of Voter ID page.
Same-day registration: Yes

Knowing who has already voted: During the window, Vote.ND.Gov posts running statewide and county totals of absentee ballots sent and returned, vote-by-mail ballots, and early votes, but no names. The per-voter record lives in the Central Voter File, where auditors log each ballot issued and returned, so a candidate or committee entitled to the file under NDCC 16.1-02-15 should ask the county auditor for an updated list of absentee and early voters during the window. After the election, the electronic pollbook list of who voted is an open record by precinct or county, with birth dates and ID numbers redacted (NDCC 16.1-02-13).

Local government in North Dakota: what you can run for

53 counties, each with an elected auditor who runs elections; incorporated cities under council or commission forms (NDCC chapter 40-21), some with home rule charters; organized townships with elected supervisors, clerk, treasurer, and assessor (NDCC chapter 58-05); public school districts governed by elected boards (NDCC chapter 15.1-09); park districts; and special districts such as water resource and soil conservation districts and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District. The SOS filing guide lists which counties elect conservancy and water authority directors.

City council member or city commissioner
Mayor or city commission president
County commissioner
County auditor, treasurer, recorder, sheriff, state's attorney
School board member
Park board commissioner
Township supervisor, clerk, treasurer, assessor
Soil conservation district supervisor
State representative and senator

When local elections happen: Cities: second Tuesday in June in even years, normally combined with the county primary (NDCC 40-21-02). Counties: June primary and November general in even years. School boards: every year, a board-chosen date between April 1 and June 30, often the second Tuesday in June and sometimes combined with the city election (NDCC 15.1-09-22). Townships: March, often the third Tuesday. Odd years therefore have school and township elections only.

Running your North Dakota campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in North Dakota today. You upload the North Dakota voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your North Dakota campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

North Dakota questions we get asked

How can North Dakota have a voter file if nobody registers to vote?

Because North Dakota builds one from the other direction. Instead of a registration list, NDCC 16.1-02 creates the Central Voter File: the Secretary of State seeded it from Department of Transportation records in 2008, county auditors add everyone who votes after each election, DOT reports address changes, and vital records and the courts report deaths and name changes. Each record carries name, address, a unique ID, districts, precinct, status, and four years of voting history. So the file lists people who have voted or been issued a ballot, which is close to a registration list for people who vote and thin for people who have never voted.

Who can buy the North Dakota Central Voter File and what does it cost?

Only a candidate, a political party, or a political committee, for election-related purposes (NDCC 16.1-02-15); you cannot resell it or use it for anything else. Request it from the Secretary of State's Elections Unit (soselect@nd.gov, (701) 328-4146) or from your county auditor for a county or precinct extract; there is no order page. The statute lets the SOS charge the cost of producing the list, and the SOS does not publish a fee, so ask for the current charge when you request it. North Dakota never releases birth dates or ID numbers.

Where do I file to run for city council or school board in North Dakota?

City council: a petition signed by 10 percent of the votes cast for that office at the last city election (at most 300 signatures) plus a Statement of Interests, filed with the city auditor before 4 p.m. on the 64th day before the June election in an even year (NDCC 40-21-07); the next deadline is April 10, 2028. School board: just a statement of your name and the position plus the Statement of Interests, filed with the school business manager by 4 p.m. on the 64th day before whatever date your board set between April 1 and June 30 (NDCC 15.1-09-22). No North Dakota local office has a filing fee.

Are there contribution limits for local candidates in North Dakota?

No dollar limits. NDCC chapter 16.1-08.1 caps nothing an individual may give a North Dakota candidate; it only bans contributions from corporations, cooperative corporations, LLCs, and associations (including unions), which must give through a separate segregated fund (NDCC 16.1-08.1-03.3). What you must do is disclose: itemize any donor whose gifts exceed $200 in the reporting period, and file a 48-hour report for any donor who exceeds $500 in the 39 days before the election.

Does a North Dakota school board candidate have to report campaign contributions?

Only in districts with a fall enrollment of 1,000 or more students; candidates in smaller North Dakota districts file just the Statement of Interests (SOS 'Running for School Board' guide). City candidates are covered only in cities of 5,000 or more; county candidates are always covered. Covered candidates file the Campaign Disclosure Statement (SFN 53970) with the same officer who took their petition: the school business manager, city auditor, or county auditor.

How does a North Dakota campaign know who has already voted?

Vote.ND.Gov shows statewide and county counts of absentee ballots sent and returned and early votes cast during the window, but not names. Names are in the Central Voter File, where the county auditor logs every ballot issued and returned, so a candidate or committee entitled to the file should ask the auditor for an updated absentee-and-early-voter list during the window. After election day, the electronic pollbook list of everyone who voted in North Dakota is an open record by precinct or county (NDCC 16.1-02-13), which is your vote-history update for the next race.

When are North Dakota city and school elections?

North Dakota city elections are on the second Tuesday in June in even-numbered years, normally run with the county primary under an agreement with the county (NDCC 40-21-02); the next is June 13, 2028. School boards elect every year on a date the board chooses between April 1 and June 30 (NDCC 15.1-09-22), often the second Tuesday in June and sometimes combined with a city election. Townships vote in March. So in 2027 only school and township seats are on the ballot.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.