1169D 100th Legislative Session 1169
AMENDMENT 1169D
FOR THE SENATE STATE
AFFAIRS ENGROSSED BILL
Introduced by: Representative Reimer
An Act to modify the signature requirement for a petition to initiate a constitutional amendment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:
Section 1. That § 2-1-1 be AMENDED:
2-1-1.
All
measures A
measure proposed
by initiative
shall
may be
presented
only by
a petition.
The petition shall be
signed by
not less than
at least five
percent of the qualified electors of the state.
An
amendment to the South Dakota Constitution proposed by initiative may
be presented only by a petition signed by
qualified voters from each senatorial district, equal in number to at
least five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the
senatorial district at the last gubernatorial election, provided that
the total number of signatures on the petition equals
at least ten percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the last
gubernatorial election.
The petition to propose an amendment to the constitution must include
signatures from at least eighteen senatorial districts. A senatorial
district may only be counted toward meeting the requirements of this
section if the petition contains a number of signatures from the
senatorial district equal to at least five percent of the total
number of votes cast for Governor in the senatorial district at the
last gubernatorial election.
Section 2. That § 2-1-1.1 be AMENDED:
2-1-1.1.
A
petition sponsor shall file, in a physical and electronic format, a
petition
for an initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution,
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
before the petition may be circulated
and at least one year before the next general election at which the
initiated amendment
to the constitution
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;
(2) Contain
Designate
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
individual who
signs the petition a circulator handout 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
indicating
whether the petition circulator is a volunteer or paid circulator
and, if a paid circulator, the amount the circulator is being paid.
The secretary of state
shall
must approve
the circulator handout for each initiated amendment to the
Constitution before the petition is circulated.
For
any initiated amendment petition, no signature may be obtained A
petition for an initiated amendment to the constitution may not be
circulated more
than twenty-four months
preceding
before the
general election that was designated
at the time of filing of the full text
pursuant to subdivision (1). Each sheet of the petition must indicate
the senatorial district where the signatures were collected and may
contain only signatures from that senatorial district.
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, must 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 State Board of Elections
shall
prescribe
promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26,
prescribing the
form of the affidavit and the
requirements of the
petition
not otherwise,
including petition size and petition font size for ballot measure
language not prescribed in this section
specified by this section.
Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes
indicate deleted language.