(KXNET) — State lawmakers also want to make sure people can continue to vote in person on Election Day.
House Bill 1167 would remove the governor’s power to close physical polling locations in an emergency.
During the covid pandemic, Governor Burgum signed executive order 2020-19, which encouraged several school districts to suspend in-person voting and instruct neighbors to vote by mail only for the June primary.
Representative Steve Vetter argues that the policy made it more difficult for many neighbors to vote.
“Regardless of what happened in the past, I think in the future, I don’t see any excuse for not having at least one physical polling location open to voters,” Vetter said.
In December 2020, Governor Burgum did away with 31 of his previous executive orders, including the election measures as they were deemed no longer necessary.
