North Dakota Century Code Title 44. Offices and Officers § 44-08-21.1. 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.