ND HB1230

Adds new criminal offense under North Dakota law prohibiting willfully submitting an initiative or referendum petition containing one or more fraudulent signatures.

Establishes civil penalty of up to $3,000 for measure committee members, initiative/referendum sponsoring committee members, or agents who collect fraudulent signatures for petitions, enforceable by the attorney general in Burleigh County district court.

Organizations convicted of operating a signature gathering business that violates the fraudulent signature provision are classified as class A misdemeanor and barred from reapplying for business authorization for five years following judgment.

Maintains existing election offense penalties including class A misdemeanor for various petition-related violations and class C felony for ballot tampering and other specified offenses.

Clarifies that criminal acts related to candidate elections apply equally to questions submitted to voters on ballots.