South Dakota § 2-1-1.1 - Initiated constitutional amendment--Petition--Finalization--Contents--Eligible sponsor--Circulator handout--Circulation period--Signatures and affidavit filing--Form.

§ 2-1-1.1. Initiated constitutional amendment--Petition--Finalization--Contents--Eligible sponsor--Circulator handout--Circulation period--Signatures and affidavit filing--Form.

A petition sponsor shall file, in a physical and electronic copy format, a petition for an initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, as it is to be circulated, with the secretary of state 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 must:

(1)    Be accompanied by the full text of the initiated amendment in fourteen-point font;

(2)    Designate, in fourteen-point font, the date of the general election at which the initiated amendment is to be submitted;

(3)    Contain, in fourteen-point font, the title and explanation of the initiated amendment as prepared by the attorney general, pursuant to § 12-13-25.1;

(4)    Contain the fiscal note, if any, prepared pursuant to § 2-9-30, in fourteen-point font;

(5)    Be accompanied by a notarized affidavit form, signed by each person who is a petition sponsor, which includes the name and address of each petition sponsor; and

(6)    Be accompanied by a statement of organization as provided in § 12-27-6.

The title to be contained on a petition for an initiated amendment, pursuant to subdivision (3), must be included on both sides of the sheet of paper on which the petition is printed. The title printed on the back side of the petition must be printed in at least sixteen-point font.

Only an individual who is registered as a voter of this state, pursuant to chapter 12-4, may be a petition sponsor for an initiated amendment to the constitution.

Each petition circulator shall provide to each individual who signs the petition a circulator handout containing the title of the initiated amendment to the Constitution, as prepared by the attorney general; the full text of the initiated amendment to the Constitution; the name, phone number, and email address of each petition sponsor; and a statement indicating whether the petition circulator is a volunteer or a paid circulator and, if a paid circulator, the amount the circulator is being paid. The secretary of state must approve the circulator handout for each initiated amendment to the Constitution before the petition is circulated.

A petition for an initiated amendment to the constitution may not be circulated more than twenty-four months before the general election that was designated pursuant to subdivision (2). 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 February 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 the form of the petition, including petition size and petition font size for ballot measure language not prescribed in this section.

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; SL 2024, ch 16, § 1; SL 2025, ch 15, § 1; SL 2025, ch 16, § 1; SL 2025, ch 17, § 1.