The Bismarck City Commission on Tuesday decided not to pursue a ballot measure in November to legalize fireworks in the city.
Adding a ballot measure could cost anywhere between $64,000 and $85,000, plus an extra $10,000 for postage for the high number of absentee ballots requested, according to Burleigh County Election Manager Erika White. The city would have to pay a portion of that additional cost.
White told City Attorney Jannelle Combs in an email that a ballot measure from the city could push the November ballot from one page to two, increasing the cost anywhere from 50% to 100% of the cost for the primary election in June.
Combs told the commission Tuesday that she did not think the city would pay any less than $10,000 for a ballot measure.
“I’m really struggling with spending the money to even put this on the ballot,” Commissioner Nancy Guy said.
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The commission did not vote on whether to create a ballot measure. It let the discussion die when no commissioner moved to pursue further action.
Mayor Steve Bakken said he would consider reopening the discussion in the spring.
The state Legislature at its last session put two measures on the general election ballot, and the ballot also might have one citizen initiated measure. One potential measure could take up an entire column on the November ballot.
White said that along with increased cost, a two-page ballot takes twice as long to proof and conduct logic and accuracy testing, which normally takes two weeks for a one-page ballot. She added that this year’s general election will be unlike any other conducted by the county due to the pandemic and that she doesn’t want to burden election workers.
Bakken in June proposed the idea of legalizing fireworks. In July he said he brought up the issue because it hadn’t been discussed since Bismarck voters made fireworks illegal in 1988. The commissioners on July 14 directed staff to look into the cost and process of creating a ballot measure.