Title: Haggard v. Meier
Citation: 368 N.W.2d 539
Docket Number: 10850
State: north-dakota
Issuer: north-dakota Supreme Court
Date: May 22, 1985

368 N.W.2d 539 (1985) Clarence HAGGARD, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Ben MEIER, North Dakota Secretary of State; Kent Conrad, Candidate for North Dakota Tax Commissioner; Scott Hove, Candidate for North Dakota Tax Commissioner; North Dakota Democratic Party, a political organization; and North Dakota Republican Party, a political organization, Defendants and Appellees. Civ. No. 10850. Supreme Court of North Dakota. May 22, 1985. Phillip J. Brown (argued), Bismarck, for plaintiff and appellant. *540 Terry Adkins (appearance), Asst. Atty. Gen., and Craig E. Sinclair (appearance), Asst. Atty. Gen., Bismarck, for defendant and appellee Ben Meier. Kenneth M. Jakes (argued), Bismarck, for defendant and appellee Kent Conrad. Harold L. Anderson (appearance), and David E. Reich (appearance) of Pearce, Anderson &amp; Durick, Bismarck, for defendants and appellees Democratic Party and Republican Party. VANDE WALLE, Justice. The appellant, Clarence Haggard, was an aspirant in the June 1984 primary election for nomination as a candidate to the no-party office of State Tax Commissioner. Haggard's opponents, Kent Conrad and Scott Hove, were nominated in the primary election as candidates for the office in the general election on November 6, 1984. In that election, Conrad was elected State Tax Commissioner, and he currently holds that office. On July 19, 1984, following the primary election, Haggard filed an action seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in which he asserted that Conrad, Hove, and the North Dakota Republican and Democratic parties violated certain provisions of North Dakota law governing the election of officers on the no-party ballot. Haggard asserted that those provisions were violated when Conrad and Hove sought, and the political parties adopted, resolutions or endorsements of support and provided other forms of support for the candidates. The district court entered a summary judgment dismissing Haggard's action on the ground that the activities of Conrad, Hove, and the political parties did not violate the no-party laws of this State. We affirm. On appeal, Haggard asserts that the district court erred in its determination that the activities of Conrad, Hove, and the political parties did not violate the following no-party laws, which provide in relevant part: Article V, Sec. 12, N.D. Const., provides that the Tax Commissioner shall be elected on a no-party ballot. It is undisputed that the 1984 primary and general election ballots prepared by the Secretary of State for the office of State Tax Commissioner were designated "no-party" ballot and that the candidates' names were placed on the ballots without any indication of or reference to party affiliation. Section 16.1-11-08, N.D.C.C., provides that a petition and affidavit filed by a candidate *541 for the office of State Tax Commissioner shall contain no reference "to a party ballot or to the party affiliation of a candidate." It is undisputed that the nomination petitions and affidavits filed by Conrad and Hove contained no reference to a party ballot or to the candidates' party affiliation. Section 16.1-11-37, N.D.C.C., provides that "no partisan nominations" shall be made for the office of State Tax Commissioner. Haggard asserts that the resolutions of support adopted by the respective political parties for Conrad and Hove constituted party endorsements for the office in violation of this provision. Haggard thus reasons that a "resolution of support" is a "party endorsement" which is the same as a "partisan nomination" within the meaning of the above-cited statutes. We disagree. A candidate for a State office can have his name placed on the ballot for nomination in the primary election by one of two methods: (1) a certificate of endorsement signed by the State chairman of a legally recognized political party, or (2) a petition signed by a requisite number of qualified electors. Section 16.1-11-06, N.D.C.C. However, under our current law, a candidate for nomination to a no-party office such as that of State Tax Commissioner can have his name placed on the ballot only by the second method of filing a petition with the requisite number of signatures, because Section 16.1-11-37, N.D.C.C., prohibits "partisan nominations" for those offices. Consequently, a person who desires to have his name placed on the primary ballot for nomination to the office of State Tax Commissioner cannot do so by presenting to the Secretary of State a certificate of endorsement by a recognized political party. With regard to no-party offices such a certificate of endorsement has no validity and is of no effect in having a candidate's name placed on the ballot. It is not disputed in this case that candidates Conrad and Hove had their names placed on the ballot for nomination to the office of State Tax Commissioner by properly presenting to the Secretary of State petitions with the requisite number of signatures by qualified electors. They did not become candidates for nomination to that office by presenting, or attempting to present, to the Secretary of State a certificate of endorsement by a recognized political party. When the wording of a statute is unambiguous, the letter of it is not to be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit. Section 1-02-05, N.D.C.C. Where constitutional and statutory provisions are clear and unambiguous, it is improper for the courts to attempt to construe the provisions so as to legislate additional requirements or proscriptions which the words of the provisions do not themselves provide. See Rheaume v. State, 339 N.W.2d 90 (N.D.1983); Hall GMC, Inc. v. Crane Carrier Co., 332 N.W.2d 54 (N.D. 1983). We conclude that the no-party provisions of North Dakota law to which Haggard has referred are clear and unambiguous in what they require and in what they prohibit. Those provisions require no-party candidates to have their names placed on the ballot through the petition process and not by partisan nominations through the use of political party certificates of endorsement. Those provisions prohibit reference to party affiliation on no-party ballots, nomination petitions, or affidavits. They do not, however, attempt to proscribe the activities of no-party candidates in seeking, or of political parties in providing, resolutions or other forms of support.[1] We conclude, therefore, as did *542 the district court, that the activities of the defendant candidates and political parties did not violate the no-party laws of this State. Our conclusion in this case is supported by the Minnesota Supreme Court's decision in Moon v. Halverson, 206 Minn. 331, 288 N.W. 579 (1939), in which that court was asked to resolve this issue under similar statutory provisions. The Minnesota non-partisan election laws provided that candidates for nomination to a no-party office were to be placed on a ballot designated as a "non-partisan primary ballot," that no party designation could be placed on the ballot, and that no candidate filing for nomination on the non-partisan primary ballot would be "permitted or required to State his party affiliation." In determining that those provisions did not prohibit party endorsements or support of non-partisan candidates, the Minnesota Supreme Court stated the following reasoning with which we agree and which is, we believe, applicable to this case: Having construed the facts in a light most favorable to Haggard, the party against whom summary judgment of dismissal was sought in this case, we conclude that the activities of the defendant candidates and political parties did not violate the no-party laws of this State under Art. V, Sec. 12, N.D. Const., Section 16.1-11-08, N.D.C.C., or Section 16.1-11-37, N.D.C.C., and that the district court did not err in entering a summary judgment of dismissal. In view of our determination that the alleged activities of the defendant candidates and political parties did not violate North Dakota law, we conclude that it is unnecessary to discuss or resolve other issues raised by the defendant parties on appeal. Affirmed. ERICKSTAD, C.J., and LEVINE, MESCHKE and GIERKE, JJ., concur. [1] None of the parties discussed the statements contained in the special concurrence in Snortland v. Crawford, 306 N.W.2d 614, 628 (N.D. 1981). Because the statements were dicta they do not, of course, govern our disposition of this matter. We further note that these statutory provisions involving the no-party ballot apply to certain other offices, including judicial offices. Insofar as judicial offices are concerned, candidates for those offices are obliged to comply with the Rules of Judicial Conduct adopted by this court. See particularly Rule 7 requiring candidates for judicial office to refrain from political activity inappropriate to the judicial office.