North Dakota Ethics Study Broaches 'Dark Money' in Elections

State ethics law narrows or restricts qualifications for disclosing the "ultimate and true source," according to Erin Chlopak, director of campaign finance strategy for the Campaign Legal Center. She gave examples of "dark money" in North Dakota as recent as spending in the state's 2018 U.S. Senate race, in opposition to the 2018 ethics measure and in support of the 2016 ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana. "In both of those ballot measures, North Dakota voters were deprived of fundamental and essential information about the true sources of substantial amounts of money, often from out-of-state special interests, spent to influence their votes on matters directly affecting their lives," Chlopak said.

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