I'm not originally from North Dakota (Pennsylvania born and raised), but I've been here for a little more than a year, and I thought I had the state pretty much figured out. But Election Day has me questioning a lot about how things are done here in the Peace Garden State.
ND is the only state where you don't have to register to vote. All you need to do is show up to your polling place, hand over your ID, and get your ballot.
And sometimes, you don't even have to do that much.
I live in Bismarck, which is one of the biggest cities in North Dakota, but still considered a small town. So, around 11:00 this morning, the waiting time to vote was just about four minutes. There were only two people in line in front of me, and one of them, a guy in his 20s, pulled out a Washington state driver's license. He told the polling officer that was the only identification he had, but he'd been living in North Dakota for a few months, and he was an official resident of the state.
Now, at this point, I was thinking that even with ND's lackadaisical registration, there was no way this kid was going to get to vote.
As usual, I was wrong.
The polling officer just asked him if he promised that he lived in Bismarck, told him to write down his address, and had him sign an affidavit, swearing his residency to the state. Then, he got his ballot and cast his vote.
As crazy as it seems, this is all perfectly legal. Because there's no formal registration in the state, the voting process is more of an honor system. And the craziest thing of all? It might actually be working.
In 2004, North Dakota had about a 65-percent voter turnout. That's higher than the national average, which was just under 57-percent in the last election. North Dakota's Secretary of State Al Jaeger says that with steady voters at the polls today, combined with early voting, turnout could be even higher this year.
After the election, Jaeger's office goes through each polling place's book, making sure there aren't any overlaps in votes. And, all the affidavits are checked for authenticity, just so there isn't any voter fraud.
Which means that the honor system, at least in North Dakota, is still alive and well.