North Dakota had one measure voted down during this past election and it was measure four.

Measure four was a proposed tax increase on tobacco products.

North Dakota, at the time of writing, has the third lowest tobacco tax. Measure four aimed to increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes from $.44 to $2.20.

As the dust falls after this election it seems impossible to feel like we were not tricked as voters.

Measure four proposed using the tobacco tax increase to fund a veteran’s trust fund.

The opposition is spending “millions to mislead voters,” David Johnson, adjutant of the North Dakota American Legion said on October 25th at a press conference concerning measure four.

When thinking about measure four, do you the voter think about tobacco and the veterans? Or do you think about the 400 percent tax increase?

The opposition paid $3.6 million dollars to make sure you thought about taxes, and not veterans and tobacco.

A critique of the opposition of measure four was that omission of the word “tobacco.”

I sat down with Julie Markfort, a freshman in the nursing program to ask her some questions about North Dakota’s last election.

Markfort said when she thinks about measure four, she thinks “about the 400 percent tax increase.”

Markfort said she voted yes on measure four, but does say she felt large companies did sway voters.

“I think people want to say no when they see 400 percent tax increase. There was a lot of advertisement on yes or no, but not on what it actually meant for them,” Makfort said.

The opposition, which included North Dakota Retail Associate President Mike Rud, Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, Altria Group Inc. (a tobacco company) and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, spent $3.6 million dollars to sway the voters of this state.

The supporters of this measure include ND Cancer Society, American Lung Association in ND, ND Public Health Association and much more.

Where the issue for measure four seems to be is not on the moral ground the measure. Rather it seems the issues laid with money.

The supporters spent $21,691.26 supporting this measure. In other words, about 0.6 percent of the opposition’s contribution.

The donors for the contributions include Casey’s General Stores, Inc., who donated $28,000, and Altria Client Services LLC and its affiliates (a tobacco company) spending a whopping $2.6 million.

As voters, this should disgust us. This should confuse us. Why not present the issue? Why mislead us if not only for financial gain. 

The interests of the people were ignored in order to further the profit of large corporations. 

The veterans lost and the North Dakota public was swayed. We thought there was no way that big tobacco could still be influencing voters. 

However, we still are being influenced, and in this case, big tobacco indeed won. 

I have reached out to Mike Rud, North Dakota Retail Association President and the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce for a response. More to come for numbers regarding donor contribution and donor groups. The content in this article is referenced from Ballotpedia.