Title 2, LEGISLATURE AND STATUTES

Before filing a petition to initiate an amendment to the Constitution, for an initiated measure, or for a referred law, with the officer in whose office the petition is required to be filed, each petition circulator shall sign a verification attesting that: (1) The circulator per…

The petitions herein provided for shall be liberally construed, so that the real intention of the petitioners may not be defeated by a mere technicality. Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0406.

No initiated measure may embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in the title. Source: SL 2018, ch 23 , § 1.

Each constitutional amendment, initiated measure, or referred law that is approved by a majority of all votes cast is effective on the first day of July after the completion of the official canvass by the State Canvassing Board. Source: SL 1979, ch 11 , § 2; SL 2017, ch 11 , § 1.

All signatures secured in a manner contrary to the provisions of state law shall not be counted. Source: SL 1988, ch 23 , § 2; 1st SS 1991, ch 1, §§ 3, 4; SL 2019, ch 15 , § 1.

Upon receipt of a petition to initiate an amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, initiate a measure, or refer a law to a vote of the electors of the state, the secretary of state shall promptly examine and catalogue the petition and petition signatures and make them availabl…

The secretary of state shall verify the signatures pursuant to § 2-1-15 by random sampling. The random sample of signatures to be verified shall be drawn so that each signature received by the secretary of state is given an equal opportunity to be included in the sample. The secr…

If the random sample indicates that a sufficient number of qualified electors have signed the petition, the secretary of state shall certify that the petition has been signed by the required number of qualified electors and shall place the proposed measure or amendment on the nex…

Not more than thirty days after a statewide petition for an initiated amendment to the Constitution, initiated measure, or referred law has been validated and filed, any interested person who has researched the signatures contained on the petition may submit a sworn affidavit to …

Nothing in §§ 2-1-15 to 2-1-18 , inclusive, prohibits any interested person who has researched the signatures contained on a validated petition from challenging in circuit court the validity of any signature, the veracity of the petition circulator's attestation, or any other inf…

An individual who has signed a petition to initiate a constitutional amendment or measure, or to refer a law, may submit a written notification to the secretary of state stating that the individual's name be withdrawn from the petition. A signature may be withdrawn as provided in…

If a challenge to a validated petition is filed pursuant to § 2-1-17.1 or 2-1-18 , the secretary of state must provide to each party to the proceeding all written notifications, submitted under § 2-1-18 .1, that pertain to the validated petition being challenged. If a signature i…

A petition of the voters proposing an amendment to the Constitution may be withdrawn within the meaning of section 3 of article XXIII of the Constitution not later than one hundred twenty days prior to the next general election, if not less than two - thirds of the named sponsors…

A petition of the voters proposing an initiated measure may be withdrawn not later than one hundred twenty days prior to the next general election, if not less than two-thirds of the named sponsors file with the secretary of state, in writing, their request for withdrawal of the …

If any petition sponsor, or any person or entity compensated by the petition sponsor or a ballot question committee for purposes of petition circulation, knowingly or with reckless disregard commits multiple violations of the law regarding petition circulation, residency of a pet…

Any law which the Legislature may have enacted, except one that may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, shall, upon the filing of a petition as provided in thi…

A petition sponsor shall file, in physical and electronic format, a petition to refer a law, as it is to be circulated, with the secretary of state before the petition may be circulated. The petition must: (1) Contain, in fourteen-point font, the title of the referred law; (2) Co…

A petition of the voters referring a law to the vote of the electors pursuant to § 2-1-3 may be withdrawn no later than one hundred twenty days prior to the next general election, if no less than two-thirds of the petition sponsors file with the secretary of state, in writing, th…

The total number of votes cast for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election, shall for the purposes of this chapter, be the basis for determining the number of petitioners required. Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0404; SL 1976, ch 105 , § 78.

Every person who is a qualified voter may sign a petition to initiate a constitutional amendment or other measure or to refer a law. If a person, knowing he or she is not a qualified voter of the state or knowing that he or she has already signed the same petition, signs a petiti…

Every petition proposing a measure shall be signed in person by the petitioners. Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0403; SL 1957, ch 278 , § 3; SL 2009, ch 64 , § 7, eff. July 1, 2010.

A single petition may be made up of one or more papers, each having the requisite heading and verification. Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0403; SL 1957, ch 278 , § 3; SL 1986, ch 114 , § 2.