FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to revise certain provisions concerning elections and petitions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
    Section 1. That § 12-4-36 be amended to read as follows:
    12-4-36. There is a rebuttable presumption that the signer of a petition filed pursuant to chapter 2-1, 6-16, 7-18A, 9-13, 9-20, 12-6, 12-7, or 13-7 is not a qualified elector if the signer's name fails to appear on the active or inactive voter registration list of the county stated on the petition as the signer's county of registration on the date the petition was signed. This rebuttable presumption may only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence presented by the petition sponsor, circulator, or candidate.
    Section 2. That § 12-5-1 be amended to read as follows:
    12-5-1. A new political party may be organized and participate in the primary election by filing with the secretary of state not later than the last Tuesday of March at five p.m. prior to the date of the primary election, a written declaration signed by at least two and one-half percent of the voters of the state as shown by the total vote cast for Governor at the last preceding

gubernatorial election, which declaration shall contain:

            (1)    The name of the proposed party; and

            (2)    A brief statement of the principles thereof;
whereupon the party shall, under the party name chosen, have all the rights of a political party whose ticket was on the ballot at the preceding general election. No signature on a declaration is valid if the declaration was signed more than one year prior to filing of the declaration.

    A political party loses the right to participate in the primary election for failure to meet the definition of political party as defined in § 12-1-3.

    The national and state chairperson of a recognized political party may request in writing, subscribed and sworn to by each chairperson before any officer qualified to administer oaths and take acknowledgments, to no longer be recognized as a political party. The political party shall also comply with the requirements for dissolution pursuant to chapter 12-27.
    Section 3. That § 12-6-8 be amended to read as follows:
    12-6-8. No person shall may sign the nominating petition of a candidate before January first in the year in which the election is to be held, nor for whom he the person is not entitled to vote, nor for a political candidate of a party of which he the person is not a member, nor of more than the number of candidates required to be nominated for the same office. There shall be added by either the signer or the circulator, the signer's place of residence, and the date of signing. The signer's post office box number may be given in lieu of a street address if the signer lives within a municipality of the second or third class. A formal declaration of the candidate shall be signed by him the circulator prior to the circulation of petitions. The signed declaration of the candidate, or a facsimile thereof, may accompany and be a part of the petition. The original signed declaration shall accompany the group of petitions upon filing. Such The petition shall be verified under oath by the persons circulating the same petition. The verification by the

person circulating the petition may not be notarized by the candidate whom the petition is nominating. The provisions of this section shall may not prohibit a person registered with party affiliation from signing either a petition nominating an independent or a nonpolitical candidate for office if he the person has not previously signed a petition for that office to be filled.
    Section 4. That § 12-26-15 be amended to read as follows:
    12-26-15. It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person, directly or indirectly, by himself the person or through any other person:

            (1)    To pay, lend, contribute, or offer or promise to pay, lend, or contribute, any money or other valuable consideration, to or for any voter or to or for any other person, to induce such the voter to vote or refrain from voting at any election or to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting at such any election for any particular person or to induce such the voter to go to the polls or remain away from the polls at such any election, or on account of such the voter having voted, refrained from voting or having voted or refrained from voting for any particular person, or having gone to the polls or remained away from the polls at such any election;

            (2)    To give, offer, or promise any office, place, or employment, or to promise to procure or endeavor to procure any office, place, or employment to or for any voter, or to or for any other person in order to induce such the voter to vote or refrain from voting at such any election for any particular person;

            (3)    To make any gift, loan, or promise, offer, procurement, or agreement as aforesaid to, for, or with any person in order to induce such the person to procure or endeavor to procure the election of any person, or the vote of any voter at any election;

            (4)    To procure or engage, promise, or endeavor to procure, in consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or agreement, the election of any person or

the vote of any voter at such any election;

            (5)    To advance or pay, or cause to be paid, any money or other valuable thing to or for the use of any other person, with the intent that the same or any part thereof shall be used in bribery at any election, or to knowingly pay or cause to be paid any money or other valuable thing to any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at any election;

            (8)    To make any gift, loan, or promise, offer, procurement, or agreement as aforesaid to, for, or with any person in order to sign any nominating, referendum, initiated measure, or initiated constitutional amendment petition.