(OurNationNews.com) Voters in North Dakota have backed a measure seeking to impose an age limit for candidates who want to run for the state senate.
The measure bars anyone who will turn 81 by the last day of December of the year when their term ends from running for state senate. The approval of the measure, however, does not affect any incumbent state legislators, as the oldest member of the state senate, Republican John Hoeven, is only 67 years old. The measure, which will effectively amend the Peace Garden State’s Constitution, passed with 61% of voters in the state agreeing to it, while close to 40% of voters said that they opposed the proposal.
Republican state Senator Jared Hendrix, who is 41, led the charge to move the measure forward. He said that the move was also partly to spark discussion on the effects of advance age in public service.
“I think it’s very possible that if we pull this off here, other states will follow,” Hendrix said.
The issue of the ages of public officials is one that has risen to the fore in the minds of many voters, given that both President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump are well among the oldest candidates who are aspiring for a second term in the White House.
Interestingly enough, both Biden and Trump, if either win the election, will be past 81 years old at the end of a second presidential term. Biden would be well past the limit at 86 years old on Jan. 20, 2029 – presidential terms begin on the 20th of January after the results of an election – while Trump would be 82. Both men also will be at the tail end of their life expectancy at the end of their terms, according to an Actuarial Life Table released by the U.S. Social Security System. The table puts Biden’s life expectancy to be around 88 years old, while Trump’s stand at roughly 86 years old.
Copyright 2024, OurNationNews.com
