Associated Press Writer

By DALE WETZELBy DALE WETZEL

Some of North Dakota's rural counties want the option of holding general elections by mail, and the state House has given final legislative approval to a bill that would allow the practice.

State law now says counties may rely on mail balloting for the June primary but not for November general elections. Representatives voted 65-25 on Monday to endorse a bill to permit voting by mail for any election.

Twenty-nine of North Dakota's 53 counties have fewer than 5,000 residents, said Rep. Lisa Meier, R-Bismarck, a sponsor of the bill.

"Some of these counties, and their voters, wish to have the option of conducting a mail ballot election in both the June and November election," Meier said.

The legislation now goes to Gov. John Hoeven for his review.

Under its provisions, county auditors who rely on voting by mail must send ballot applications to every county resident who is listed in a state database.

The secretary of state's office is compiling each county's voter list. It will include the names of adult driver's license holders and voters in the previous two elections.

The bill says at least one traditional polling place must be open on Election Day. Anyone who uses a mail ballot must mail it by the day before the election or return it by 5 p.m. the day before to a place designated by the auditor.

County auditors say voting by mail may be attractive to smaller, rural counties. North Dakota's largest counties are unlikely to use the procedure because it would be much costlier than a regular election.

The process of voting by mail is almost identical to absentee voting. State law already allows North Dakotans to request a ballot weeks before the election.

Encouraged by both the Democratic and Republican parties, early voting has become more popular in the last decade, after the Legislature began allowing voters to request absentee ballots for any reason.

Before the 1997 change in the law, voters were required to sign a statement saying they wanted an absentee ballot because of a handicap, or because they expected to be outside their voting precinct on Election Day.

In the 2006 election, 15.5 percent of North Dakota's voters cast absentee ballots, according to statistics compiled by the secretary of state. In 2004, the share was larger: 16.2 percent.

The bill is SB2230.