South Dakota Codified Laws 2-1-1.1. Initiated constitutional amendment–Petition–Finalization deadline–Contents–Signatures–Circulation period
A petition as it is to be circulated for an initiated amendment to the Constitution must be filed with the secretary of state, including an electronic copy of the petition, prior to circulation for signatures and at least one year before the next general election at which the initiated amendment is proposed to be submitted to the voters. The petition filing must:
(1) Contain the full text of the initiated amendment in fourteen-point font;
Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 2-1-1.1
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Person: includes natural persons, partnerships, associations, cooperative corporations, limited liability companies, and corporations. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2
(2) Contain the date of the general election at which the initiated amendment is to be submitted;
(3) Contain the title and explanation as prepared by the attorney general;
(4) Be accompanied by a notarized affidavit form signed by each person who is a petition sponsor that includes the name and address of each petition sponsor; and
(5) Be accompanied by a statement of organization as provided in § 12-27-6.
Each petition circulator shall provide to each person who signs the petition a form containing the title and explanation of the initiated amendment to the Constitution as prepared by the attorney general; any fiscal note prepared pursuant to § 2-9-30; the name, phone number, and email address of each petition sponsor; and a statement whether the petition circulator is a volunteer or paid petition circulator and, if a paid circulator, the amount the circulator is being paid. The form must be approved by the secretary of state prior to circulation. The petition form, as prescribed by the State Board of Elections, must include the paid circulator identification number within the verification of any paid circulator.
For any initiated amendment petition, no signature may be obtained more than twenty-four months preceding the general election that was designated at the time of filing of the full text. A sworn affidavit, signed by at least two-thirds of the petition sponsors, stating that the documents filed constitute the entire petition and to the best of the knowledge of the sponsors contains a sufficient number of signatures shall also be filed with the secretary of state. The initiated amendment petition signatures must be filed with the secretary of state by the first Tuesday in May of a general election year for the initiated amendment to qualify for submission to the voters at the next general election. The form of the petition otherwise, including petition size and petition font size for ballot measure language not prescribed in this section, and the affidavit must be prescribed by the State Board of Elections.
Source: SL 2012, ch 18, § 2; SL 2016, ch 23, § 1; SL 2016, ch 24, § 1; SL 2017, ch 16, § 7; SL 2018, ch 21, § 1; SL 2018, ch 22, § 3; SL 2018, ch 75, § 2; SL 2018, ch 80, § 4; SL 2019, ch 14, § 8, eff. July 1, 2020; SL 2020, ch 8, § 9; SL 2021, ch 15, § 2; SL 2023, ch 8, § 1.