As election day looms over the country, citizens prepare to cast their votes for who they believe should hold public office. On Tuesday, November 5, the polls will open across Grand Forks at four different locations: the Home of Economy (1508 Washington St.), the Alerus Center (1200 S 42nd St.), Hope Church (1601 17th Ave S), and the ICON Sports Center (1060 47th Ave S).
However, people who do not hold residency in Grand Forks will need to request an absentee ballot from wherever their residency is established to vote. An absentee ballot allows voters who cannot get to the polls due to illness, injury, disability, travel, attending an out-of-state college or university, or other circumstances to do so. To request an absentee ballot, visit usa.gov/absentee-voting.
Some states may require citizens to cite one of the previously mentioned circumstances to obtain an absentee ballot. Once the ballot is received, people will have to submit their ballots the way state or local election offices prefer to by the absentee-ballot deadline.
The content of someone’s ballot is dependent on where they live although every citizen can elect a president, a representative in the house, and a senator.
Within North Dakota, two candidates are vying for North Dakota’s seat in Congress: Democrat Katrina Christiansen and Republican Kevin Cramer, the incumbent.
Katrina Christiansen is from Pender, Nebraska, a town of about 1,200 people. Passionate about agriculture and energy, Christiansen graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Systems Engineering before earning her master’s degree that focused on value-added processing for sorghum, a type of grain, in 2006.
After completing her doctorate program in agricultural engineering in 2011, Christiansen worked as an engineer at an ethanol plant for two years. Then Christiansen was employed as an agricultural processor and developed two patents. Using patented technology, Christiansen helped a Fargo start-up focused on creating innovative equipment for craft maltsters, a person whose occupation is making malt. Now, Christiansen is an assistant professor in the University of Jamestown’s engineering department. Christiansen was not available for comment.
Kevin Cramer, Christiansen’s opponent, is the incumbent for one of North Dakota’s Senate seats. Before being elected in 2018, Cramer served as North Dakota’s sole representative in the house for three terms. This, combined with his work as North Dakota’s public-service commissioner and his time in former Governor Schafer Ed Schafer’s cabinet, comprise over two decades worth of public service experience.
“That experience of being engaged with the community while overseeing this dynamic economy,” Cramer said. “I don’t know how you can better prepare yourself to be a representative of new congress.”
Cramer is from Kindred, North Dakota, a community of about 900 people. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Social Work as a pre-seminary from Concordia College, Cramer obtained his master’s degree in Management from the University of Mary. At the University of Mary, where Cramer taught students earning their master’s of business administration, Cramer founded the Harold Schafer Leadership Foundation, which connects students from the University of Mary with business leaders.
“I was going to go into the ministry. That was my expectation, that I’d be a Lutheran pastor,” Cramer said. “But I was really drawn to public service, and I will tell you, it’s very much the same skills.”
Whether people vote through an absentee ballot, mail in their vote, or vote in person, there are opportunities for every citizen to vote in the upcoming election.
“In my view, we all have a moral obligation to vote, whether you’re voting for me, my opponent, or a third party,” Cramer said. “I want young people to realize it doesn’t matter what you believe, what you support, or what your philosophy is; your first obligation, as an American, is to vote.”
Dylan Campbell is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
