Court Opinion

ID: 9655998
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:30:11.281068+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:26.216614
License: Public Domain

PEDERSON, Justice,
concurring in the results.
I agree entirely with the necessity to remand to permit the judgment to be modified so that it applies only to persons over which the trial court had jurisdiction.
Because there has been no change in the pertinent constitutional provision (except its number which was changed from Article I, § 47 to Article IV, § 26) since our decisions in Kuhn v. Beede, 249 N.W.2d 230 (N.D.1976), and State ex rel Olson v. Thompson, 248 N.W.2d 347 (N.D.1976), in my opinion the only role that courts can play in contests of election returns involving the election to the Senate or the House of Representatives is to facilitate the judging which must be done by the particular house involved.
Courts do not have any inherent powers that override Article IV, § 26. As this court said in State v. District Court of Sixth Judicial Dist., 67 N.D. 196, 271 N.W. 137, 143 (1937): “It is well settled that the courts should not assume authority to take any steps in legislative contests unless clearly authorized, and then only to the extent specifically given.”
If Anita Hansen can somehow determine the preference of the 526 disenfranchised Winship precinct voters, I think it may very well facilitate the judging that only the House of Representatives must do. It may not be clearly established how this will be done, but if Judge Bakken’s suggested methods prove unworkable, he is readily available to consider alternate methods.
The preservation of the right to vote should be given appropriate high priority by all concerned, including the House of Representatives when and if the matter comes before it.