1.    If a vacancy exists on a no-party ballot for a state office or for judge of a district court, the vacancy may be filled by filing with the secretary of state, before four p.m. on the sixty-fourth day before the primary election, a written petition as provided in section 16.1-11-06, stating the petitioner desires to become a candidate for nomination to the office for which a vacancy exists. If the petition is mailed, the petition must be in the possession of the secretary of state before four p.m. on the sixty-fourth day before the primary election. The petition for the nomination of any individual to fill the vacancy must be signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least two percent of the total vote cast for governor at the most recent general election in the state or district at which the office of governor was voted upon, but in no case may more than three hundred signatures be required.

2.    If a vacancy exists on a no-party ballot in a county or district within a county, the vacancy may be filled by filing with the county auditor, before four p.m. of the sixty- fourth day before the primary election, a written petition as provided in section 16.1-11-11, stating the petitioner desires to become a candidate for nomination to the office for which a vacancy exists. If the petition is mailed, the petition must be in the possession of the county auditor before four p.m. on the sixty-fourth day before the primary election. The petition for the nomination of any individual to fill the vacancy must be signed by qualified electors as provided in subdivision c of subsection 2 of section 16.1-11-11.

3.    A vacancy in the no-party ballot must be deemed to exist when a candidate who was qualified by filing a petition pursuant to section 16.1-11-06 or 16.1-11-11 dies, resigns, or otherwise becomes disqualified to have the candidate’s name printed on the ballot.