The North Dakota Office of the Secretary of State has reviewed petitions submitted by proponents on October 20, 2025, to initiate a special election for one District 42 House seat. A total of 726 signatures were submitted. A total of 612 signatures were accepted, 44 signatures short of the required threshold of 656 signatures.
Dustin McNally was appointed by the District 42 Republican Party on September 19, 2025, to fill a vacancy in the North Dakota House of Representatives. While the petition effort was seeking a special election to determine the seat currently held by McNally, the District 42 House seat will appear on the 2026 Primary Election ballot as an unexpired 2-year term to fill the remainder of the term of former Rep. Emily O’Brien. Interested candidates will have until the filing deadline of 4 p.m. on April 6, 2026, to file candidacy paperwork with the Office of the Secretary of State to have their name placed on the 2026 Primary Election ballot.
If the petition effort had been successful, it would have been forwarded to the Governor, who could have directed a special election to coincide either with a regularly scheduled primary or general election or to occur on a specific date of his choice.
Below is a summary of the signatures accepted and rejected:
- Required Valid Signatures for Approval: 656 signatures (4% of the district’s population – 16,424 according to the 2020 decennial census)
- Submitted Signatures: 726 signatures
- Accepted Signatures: 612 signatures
- Rejected Signatures: 114 signatures
- 31 – Circulator did not provide a complete residential address on the circulator affidavit. No signatures were accepted from this circulator.
- 75 – incomplete residential address
- 1 – out-of-state address
- 6 – no date of signature provided
- 1 – illegible name
The initiated petition effort was brought under NDCC § 44-02-03.1(6) which relates to a vacancy in legislative assembly.