An Act to establish the crime of enhance the penalty for petition circulation perjury and provide a penalty therefor.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That § 2-1-10 be AMENDED:

2-1-10. 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 the:

(1) The circulator personally circulated the petition and;

(2) The circulator is not attesting to any signature obtained by any other person, that the petition ;

(3) The circulator is a resident of South Dakota, that the;

(4) The circulator made reasonable inquiry and, to the best of the circulator's knowledge, each person signing the petition is a qualified voter of the state in the county indicated on the signature line and that no ; and

(5) No state statute regarding the circulation of petitions was knowingly violated.

The State Board of Elections shall prescribe the form for the verification. The circulator's signature on the verification shall be witnessed and notarized by a notary public commissioned in South Dakota or other officer authorized to administer oaths pursuant to § 18-3-1. Any person who falsely attests to the verification provision provided in subdivision (1) is guilty of petition circulation perjury pursuant to section 2 of this Act a Class 6 felony. Any person who falsely attests to the verification under this sectionprovisions provided in subdivisions (2) to (5), inclusive, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Section 2. That chapter 22-29 be amended with a NEW SECTION:

Any person who, having taken an oath attesting to having personally circulated any petition to initiate an amendment to the Constitution, initiated measure, referred law, or to nominate any candidate for any political office, states, intentionally or contrary to the oath, any material matter that the person knows to be false, is guilty of perjury pursuant to subdivision 22-29-5(3).