BROOKINGS, SD (KVRR) – The University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ season ended after falling in extra innings to South Dakota in the first round of Summit League tournament, losing 6-5. UND battled back from a three-run deficit to tie it up in the seventh frame, but the Coyotes scored the final run in the bottom of the 10th.

Jackie Albrecht, who was named to the all-conference second team, pitched 9.1 innings and gave up 11 hits. Brooklyn Morris chipped in two hits and two RBIs for UND.

The first round of the Summit League tournament is single elimination.

MAY 7, 2024:

Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson’s office received petitions this afternoon for an initiated measure legalizing the recreational use, possession, and distribution of marijuana. If validated and certified, the ballot question will appear on the general election ballot on November 5, 2024.  The deadline to submit ballot question petitions to the Secretary of State is Tuesday, May 7,  at 5:00 p.m. central time. 

Petitions will be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s office in the order in which they were received.  Below is a chart indicating the order of submission:

In order to qualify to be placed on the 2024 general election ballot, an Initiated Measure requires 17,508 valid signatures and a Constitutional Amendment requires 35,017 valid signatures.  As outlined in South Dakota Codified Law 2-1-16 and 2-1-17, the Secretary of State’s office will now conduct a random sampling of the petition signatures to determine the validity.

Ballot measures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office previously had a deadline for submission which was one year out from the general election. After a law change in 2023, ballot measure petitions have until the first Tuesday in May to file. The Secretary of State’s office has until August 13, 2024, to finish validating petitions.

Individuals who wish to have their name withdrawn from a ballot measure petition must submit written notification to the Secretary of State’s office any time before the petition from which the individual is submitting is filed and certified for placement on the general election ballot.

MAY 6, 2024:

Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson’s office received petitions Monday afternoon (May 6, 2024) for an initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution establishing top-two primary elections. If validated and certified, the ballot question will appear on the general election ballot on November 5, 2024.  The deadline to submit ballot question petitions to the Secretary of State is Tuesday, May 7,  at 5:00 p.m. central time. 

Petitions will be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s office in the order in which they were received.  Below is a chart indicating the order of submission:

In order to qualify to be placed on the 2024 general election ballot, an Initiated Measure requires 17,508 valid signatures and a Constitutional Amendment requires 35,017 valid signatures.  As outlined in South Dakota Codified Law 2-1-16 and 2-1-17, the Secretary of State’s office will now conduct a random sampling of the petition signatures to determine the validity. 

Ballot measures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office previously had a deadline for submission which was one year out from the general election. After a law change in 2023, ballot measure petitions have until the first Tuesday in May to file.

Individuals who wish to have their name withdrawn from a ballot measure petition must submit written notification to the Secretary of State’s office any time before the petition from which the individual is submitting is filed and certified for placement on the general election ballot.

UNDATED (AP)- Supporters of a “top two” primary election system in South Dakota that would replace the current partisan process with one open to all voters have submitted thousands more petition signatures than required to bring a vote this fall on their ballot initiative.

On Monday (May 6, 2024), South Dakota Open Primaries sponsors said they submitted petitions with 47,000 signatures to Secretary of State Monae Johnson’s office. The measure group needs 35,017 valid signatures to make the November ballot. Johnson’s office has until Aug. 13 to validate the measure, a proposed constitutional amendment.

Under South Dakota’s current primary election system, candidates in gubernatorial, congressional, legislative and county races compete in a partisan primary. The measure would allow all candidates to compete against each other in one primary, and the top two vote-getters in each race or for each seat would advance to the general election. A similar measure failed in 2016.

Other states such as California and Washington have “top two” primary elections similar to the measure proposed in South Dakota.

Measure sponsor Deanna “De” Knudson, a registered Republican, said she doesn’t think the state has a fair system, in that it “excludes about half of the voters from the real race, and we just really believe that this is a fairness issue.”

Republicans control South Dakota’s Legislature and hold all statewide elected offices and congressional seats. Democrats haven’t won a statewide election since 2008, when former U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson and U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin won reelection to their last terms.

South Dakota has nearly 602,000 registered voters, including 304,000 Republicans and 144,000 Democrats, but people registered as “no party affiliation” or “independent” total nearly 150,000 voters, according to online voter registration tracking.

State Republican Party Chairman and state Sen. John Wiik said he vehemently opposes the measure. He said he sees “no good coming out of it for the Republican Party.” The state GOP’s central committee unanimously opposed the measure, he said.

“I want Republicans to be able to choose the Republican candidate, and Democrats to choose the Democrat candidate,” Wiik said. “If you want to be an independent, then you’re independent of the decisions that affect your lives.”

Knudson said the measure would bring a much more competitive process and “will make sure that the winning candidate is the one most South Dakotans agree on.” She questioned the balance of power in the Legislature, where Democrats hold 11 of 105 seats, and whether that is truly reflective of voters’ will.

State Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers said the party hasn’t taken a stance on the measure. The Democratic Party allows “no party affiliation” and independent voters to vote in its primary, along with registered Democrats.

MAY 2, 2024:

The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office has received petitions (May 1, 2024) for an initiated amendment establishing a right to abortion in the state constitution. If validated and certified, the ballot question will appear on the general election ballot on November 5, 2024. The deadline to submit ballot question petitions to the Secretary of State is Tuesday (May 7, 2024)  at 5:00pm Central Time.  

Petitions will be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s office in the order in which they were received. Below is a chart indicating the order of submission:

In order to qualify to be placed on the 2024 general election ballot, an Initiated Measure requires 17,508 valid signatures and a Constitutional Amendment requires 35,017 valid signatures. As outlined in South Dakota Codified Law 2-1-16 and 2-1-17, the Secretary of State’s office will now conduct a random sampling of the petition signatures to determine the validity. 

Ballot measures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office previously had a deadline for submission which was one year out from the general election. After a law change in 2023, ballot measure petitions have until the first Tuesday in May to file.

Individuals who wish to have their name withdrawn from a ballot measure petition must submit written notification to the Secretary of State’s office any time before the petition from which the individual is submitting is filed and certified for placement on the general election ballot.

APRIL 25, 2024:

Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson’s office received petitions for a ballot question Wednesday (April 24, 2024). If validated and certified, the ballot question will appear on the general election ballot on November 5, 2024.

Individuals who wish to have to have their name withdrawn from a ballot measure petition must submit written notification to the Secretary of State’s office any time before the petition from which the individual is submitting is filed and certified for placement on the general election ballot.

In order to qualify to be placed on the 2024 general election ballot, an Initiated Measure requires 17,508 valid signatures and a Constitutional Amendment requires 35,017 valid signatures. As outlined in South Dakota Codified Law 2-1-16 and 2-1-17, the Secretary of State’s office will now conduct a random sampling of the petition signatures to determine the validity.

The deadline to submit ballot question petitions to the Secretary of State is May 7,  at 5:00 p.m. central time.

Ballot measures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office previously had a deadline for submission which was one year out from the general election. After a law change in 2023, ballot measure petitions have until the first Tuesday in May to file. Ballot measures will be a top priority for the Secretary of State’s office, along with assisting voters and county auditors with absentee voting and questions for the June 4, 2024, Primary Election.

Advocates of legalizing recreational marijuana in South Dakota, a mission with a rocky history, submitted thousands of signatures to election officials on Tuesday in the hopes of once again getting the issue on the conservative state’s November ballot.

Supporters of the initiative turned in about 29,000 signatures to Secretary of State Monae Johnson’s office. They need 17,508 valid signatures to make the November ballot. Johnson’s office has until Aug. 13 to validate the signatures.

Twenty-four states have legalized recreational marijuana, including as recently as November 2023 in Ohio, but “no state has as interesting or rocky or turbulent a story than South Dakota,” said South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws Campaign Director Matthew Schweich.

Florida voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana this fall. Similar measure efforts are underway in other states, including North Dakota.

In 2020, South Dakota voters approved a medical marijuana initiative and also passed a measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana. But the latter was ultimately struck down when the South Dakota Supreme Court upheld a judge’s ruling that it violated a single-subject rule for constitutional amendments — a challenge begun by Gov. Kristi Noem. Measure backers tried again in 2022, but voters defeated the proposal. In 2021, Noem sought to delay legalization of medical marijuana by a year, a proposal that died in the Republican-led Legislature.

Schweich cites several reasons to support the measure, including that it would allow law enforcement resources to be directed elsewhere, increase access for people who have difficulty getting medical marijuana patient cards, and generate new tax revenue and jobs.

“I think for me, the strongest reason at its core is that if we’re going to allow alcohol to be legal in our society, then it makes absolutely no sense to punish people for using cannabis because alcohol is more harmful to the individual and to society than cannabis,” Schweich said.

Protecting South Dakota Kids, a nonprofit group that opposes legalizing marijuana in the state, fought against the 2022 effort. The Associated Press left a phone message seeking comment on the 2024 initiative with the organization’s chairman, Jim Kinyon. In a pamphlet issued in opposition to the 2022 measure, he wrote that legalization “would swing the door wide open for higher crime rates, increased suicide rates, traffic fatalities, workplace injuries, and mental health problems.”

The ballot initiative would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older. The proposal has possession limits of 2 ounces of marijuana in a form other than concentrated cannabis or cannabis products, as well as 16 grams of the former and 1,600 mg of THC contained in the latter. The measure also allows cultivation of plants, with restrictions.

The measure doesn’t include business licensing, taxation or other regulations. Schweich said the single-subject rule at the heart of the 2021 court ruling tied his hands “in terms of writing the type of comprehensive policy I would have liked to write.”

“We’re taking a conservative approach in response to this ruling and not taking any chances,” he said.

Measure backers, if successful, plan to work with the Legislature next year to pass implementation legislation “that will spell out those missing pieces,” he said.

South Dakota outlaws marijuana possession, distribution and possession with intent to distribute, with varying misdemeanor and felony penalties according to factors such as amount and second or subsequent convictions.

The federal government has proposed reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a move Schweich said might help to normalize the issue for certain voters.

Schweich said the unique circumstances of the issue in South Dakota justify the third attempt. He thinks the initiative has a better chance this year, when voters are likely to turn out in bigger numbers to vote for president, and possibly to weigh in on an abortion rights initiative that others hope to get on the ballot.