N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-01-07
If a proposed constitutional amendment or other question is to be submitted to the people of the state for popular vote, the secretary of state shall certify the amendment or other question to each county auditor not less than fifty-five days before the election, and each auditor shall cause notice of the question to be included in the notice required by section 16.1-13-05. Questions to be submitted to the people of a particular county must be advertised in the same manner.
At the same time the secretary of state certifies notice to the county auditors of the submission of a constitutional amendment or other question, the secretary of state shall certify the ballot form for the questions. The ballot form must conform to the provisions of section 16.1-06-09 and must be used by all county auditors to prepare ballots for submission to the electorate of each county and to prepare sample ballots. The publication of either the paper ballot or the ballot as it will appear to individuals using a voting system device, whichever corresponds to the method of voting used in the area involved, will satisfy any requirement in this title for a sample ballot to be published. For two consecutive weeks before the sample ballot is published, an analysis of any constitutional amendment, initiated measure, or referred measure, written by the secretary of state after consultation with the attorney general, must be published in columns to enable the electors to become familiar with the effect of the proposed constitutional amendment or initiated or referred measure.
N.D.C.C. § 16.1-01-07