BISMARCK, N.D. — Next year, North Dakota voters could decide whether to set an age limit of 80 years old for congressional candidates running to represent the state, under a proposed statewide ballot measure to amend the state constitution.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Michael Howe announced his office is reviewing the proposed petition for the measure for approval in order for supporters to circulate it for voter signatures.
No one who “could attain 81 years of age” by the end of their term could be elected or appointed to the state’s U.S. House or Senate seats, under the proposal.
Petitioners would need to gather 31,164 signatures from North Dakota voters in order to put the measure on the ballot, which could be either the June primary or November general election ballot next year, depending on when supporters submit signatures.
Several current and former North Dakota lawmakers are backing the measure. The measure’s committee chairman is Jared Hendrix, who led a successful gubernatorial and legislative term limits initiative last year.
Hendrix told The Associated Press that supporters of the measure “believe in principle that there should be a retirement age for Congress,” citing the median age for retirement of all Americans being 64, “although many do work longer.”
National and in-state polling indicate support for congressional age limits “even at 70, but that support is overwhelming at age 80,” he said.
One provision of the proposal calls for a “ballot advisory” for noting how old congressional candidates would be by the end of their term “in the event superior law requires age-limited candidates to appear on the ballot.”
North Dakota has a three-member congressional delegation, and has had octogenarian officeholders in the past. U.S. Sen. Milton Young was 83 when he left office in 1981. U.S. Sen. Quentin Burdick died in office in 1992 at age 84.
It’s unclear how the proposed measure could stand up to the U.S. Constitution, which does not set maximum age limits.
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