"I think this is a huge result," said Evan Hendricks, publisher of Privacy Times, a Washington, D.C., newsletter. "Politically, this is a shot that is going to be heard around the world."
With 94 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, unofficial totals showed 80,706 voters, or 73 percent, decided to repeal a state law that allows banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to sell private information without getting customers' permission first.
Twenty-seven percent, or 29,176 voters, favored keeping the law, which banks and credit unions argued was needed to help promote financial services jobs in the state.
North Dakota's law was patterned after a federal financial-privacy measure, approved by Congress three years ago. Tuesday's vote was the first time voters in any state have rendered a judgment on financial privacy.
Gov. John Hoeven, a former banker who opposed the repeal, said state officials will have to measure the vote's impact. It will complicate efforts to expand financial services jobs in the state, he said. Three banks operate service centers in Fargo, with more than 1,500 employees.
"The people have spoken, and I absolutely respect their decision," Hoeven said. "From a regulatory standpoint, it is just something we will have to deal with."
North Dakota's banks and credit unions have said they are not selling customer information to outside companies.
Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, an organization based in San Diego, said the effects of the North Dakota vote could ripple to other states and Congress.
"It sends an encouraging message to other citizen organizers and consumer advocates around the country, now that the people of North Dakota have so resoundingly spoken their mind," she said.
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