M Dane Waters and Paul Jacob discuss why to vote NO on Measure # 1 in North Dakota June 9th Primary

**Vote NO on Measure 1 – North Dakota's Initiative Process Is Under Attack | Open Range In this episode of Open Range, host Gary Emineth sits down with two of the nation's leading experts on citizen initiatives — Dane Waters, founder of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at USC and president of Citizens in Charge, and Paul Jacob, a veteran advocate for term limits and direct democracy — to break down why North Dakota's Measure 1 on the June 9th primary ballot is a serious threat to voter rights. On the surface, Measure 1 sounds reasonable — it promotes a "single subject" rule for citizen initiatives. But dig deeper, and a troubling double standard emerges: if passed, the Secretary of State would gain unchecked power to reject any citizen petition deemed to violate "single subject" — a term the measure never defines. Meanwhile, the legislature faces no such restriction on its own constitutional amendments. Waters and Jacob argue this is a deliberate move by legislators who have long sought to weaken the initiative process — the very mechanism that gave North Dakotans term limits, ethics reform, and the ability to hold their government accountable. Without a clear definition of "single subject," virtually any meaningful reform could be blocked by a single appointed official, effectively ending citizen-led initiatives in North Dakota for good. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It's about preserving the people's fundamental right to self-determination and keeping a critical check on government power. Key takeaways: Measure 1 creates an undefined, arbitrary standard only applied to citizen petitions It gives one person veto power over the entire initiative process It's designed to protect legislators — not voters Vote NO on Measure 1 on June 9th.