Rhoden Vetos Law That Would Have Overhauled South Dakota’s Ballot Measure Process | Aberdeen Insider

Gov. Larry Rhoden vetoed a bill on Tuesday, March 25 that would have required ballot measures seeking to amend the state constitution to have signatures from all 35 state Senate districts.

Arguing in a letter to lawmakers that the bill would attempt to change the constitution by statute, Rhoden said he was averting a potential challenge that wouldn’t withstand court scrutiny. The bill, he also said, wouldn’t withstand free speech arguments in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rhoden echoed the sentiment of those who opposed the bill, saying it gave veto power over a proposed amendment to voters in one Senate district. The bill would have required signatures from 5% of registered voters in each district to qualify.

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“From a practical standpoint, the additional burden of collecting signatures from each of the 35 senatorial districts, each on a separate petition sheet, risks creating a system where only those with substantial financial resources can effectively undertake a statewide ballot drive,” the governor wrote. “This undermines the bill’s intent by putting South Dakotans at a disadvantage to dark money out-of-state groups.”

Rhoden also said in his letter that he preferred House Joint Resolution 5003 that asks voters to change the threshold of votes needed to change the constitution to 60%.

Rhoden signs 20 election-related bills

While vetoing House Bill 1169, Rhoden signed 20 other bills related to elections in South Dakota. Those included one requiring an indication of a person’s citizenship status on driver’s licenses or non-driver state ID cards, a requirement that people be registered voters in the state before sponsoring a ballot measure and one that prohibits the use of “deep fakes” – often images and voiceovers created by artificial intelligence – from being used to influence an election.

But of the group, HB 1169 proved to be the most controversial, and Rhoden faced heavy lobbying from some quarters to veto the legislation.

Sponsored by Dell Rapids Republican Sen. Tom Pischke and Chamberlain Rep. Rebecca Reimer, also a Republican, the measure had the support of South Dakota Right to Life, the South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation and the National Rifle Association.

Opponents of the current system in which measures can qualify for the ballot by collecting the signatures of any registered voter in the state argue that it has become too easy to change the state’s constitution by placing petition gatherers at strategic locations in the state’s largest cities. Because sponsors focus on cities, rural communities don’t have as much say in whether a measure should qualify for the ballot, they claim.

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But opponents of the measure argued that it would undermine a fundamental right for citizens to change the state constitution that has existed for 125 years. Those opponents included the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota and Dakota Rural Action.

Lawmakers return to Pierre on Monday, March 31 to consider overturning vetoes. House Bill 1169 passed the state House with enough votes to override the governor’s veto should lawmakers there want to stick to their guns, but the measure was five short of the needed votes in the Senate.