Forty-eight South Dakota high school softball teams competed in SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Most of the games were on Wednesday after being postponed by rain on Tuesday.

The pairings have now been finalized for the state Class AA, A and B tournaments May 30-June 1 at Aberdeen.

State Ttrack: The athletes to watch at the South Dakota state track meet in Sioux Falls

Class AA

SoDak 16 Results — No. 1 seed Sioux Falls Lincoln 15, No. 16 Spearfish 0; No. 9 Watertown 18, No. 8 Brookings 13 (8 innings); No. 2 Harrisburg 16, No. 15 Pierre 1; and No. 7 O’Gorman 8, No. 10 Mitchell 5.

No. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson 11, No. 13 Yankton 0; No. 5 Brandon Valley 12, No. 12 Sioux Falls Roosevelt 0; No. 3 Sioux Falls Washington 15, No. 14 Aberdeen Central 0; and No. 6 Rapid City Stevens 14, No. 2 Sturgis 0.

State Pairings (Thursday, May 30 at Koehler Hall of Fame Field)

No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln (19-0) vs. No. 9 Watertown (11-9), 10 a.m.

No. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson (15-5) vs. No. 5 Brandon Valley (13-5), 12:30 p.m.

No. 2 Harrisburg (18-2) vs. No. 7 O’Gorman (11-8, 3 p.m.

No. 3 Sioux Falls Washington (15-3) vs. No. 6 Rapid City Stevens (13-5), 5:30 p.m.

Class A

SoDak 16 Results — No. 1 West Central 11, No. 16 Winner Area 0; No. 2 Dell Rapids 16, No. 15 Lennox 1; No. 3 Tea Area 11, No. 14 Flandreau 1; and No. 4 Madison 15, No. 13 Parkston 0.

No. 5 Tri-Valley 15, No. 12 Sisseton; 0; No. 6 Beresford 6, No. 11 Mobridge-Pollock 2; No. 10 Elk Point-Jefferson 11, No. 7 Sioux Valley 7; and No. 8 Dakota Valley 8, No. 9 Vermillion 6.

State Pairings (Thursday, May 30 at Players Softball Complex Field 3)

No. 1 West Central (20-0) vs. No. 8 Elk Point-Jefferson (9-9), 10 a.m.

No. 4 Madison (15-4) vs. No. 5 Tri-Valley (13-7), 12:30 p.m.

No. 2 Dell Rapids (12-2) vs. No. 7 Dakota Valley (10-10), 3 p.m.

No. 3 Tea Area (13-4) vs. No. 6 Beresford (15-9), 5:30 p.m.

Class B

SoDak 16 Results — No. 16 Elkton-Lake Benton 8, No. 1 Bon Homme 7; No. 2 Castlewood 14, No. 15 McCook Central-Montrose 4; No. 3 Alcester-Hudson 8, No. 14 Arlington 4; and No. 4 Chester 17, No. 13 Baltic 5.

No. 5 Gayville-Volin 11, No. 12 Mount Vernon-Plankinton 1; No. 6 Scotland-Menno 14, No. 11 Freeman-Marion/Freeman Academy 1; No. 7 Deuel 6, No. 10 Redfield 4; and No. 8 Florence-Henry 5, No. 9 Hanson 2.

20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984

State Pairings (Thursday, May 30 at Players Softball Complex Field A)

No. 1 Castlewood (15-4) vs. No. 8 Elkton-Lake Benton (7-10), 10 a.m.

No. 4 Gayville-Volin (14-5) vs. No. 5 Scotland-Menno (12-4), 12:30 p;.m.

No. 2 Alcester-Hudson (18-6) vs. No. 7 Florence-Henry (11-2), 3 p.m.

No. 3 Chester (17-1) vs. No. 6 Deuel (14-5), 5:30 p.m.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on a call with reporters Wednesday strongly criticized a farm bill draft written by U.S. House Republicans, saying it would damage the coalition that traditionally has united behind farm bills and “raises the real possibility of being unable to get a farm bill through the process.”

The massive five-year legislation governing farm, nutrition, commodity and conservation programs is scheduled for a markup beginning Thursday morning in the House Agriculture Committee, headed up by Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican.

It already has appeared headed for a clash with a proposal in the Democratic-controlled Senate amid disagreements over anti-hunger and conservation programs. In addition, the must-pass bill faces a House with a slim 217-213 GOP majority.

Vilsack expressed frustration that work on the $1.5 trillion measure has been delayed by eight months and said he has “deep concerns” about the proposed package released by Thompson last week. Lawmakers fighting over spending and the speaker post in the House last year passed an extension of the 2018 farm bill that expires Sept. 30.

“I appreciate the fact that folks are working hard. I appreciate the fact that they’ve listened to people out there in the countryside,” said Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa.

“But I’m afraid that what we have is a circumstance where the proposal being advanced by the House of Representatives, the Republican members of the Ag Committee, it really is designed not to create a route to passage … I think it’s designed, unfortunately, for a route to impasse, which will cause a further delay.”

Cuts to nutrition, disaster programs

Vilsack said he objects to provisions that would reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that delivers food assistance to more than 40 million low-income families.

By limiting future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for benefit levels, the bill’s reductions would amount to $30 billion over 10 years, the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated. Vilsack put the number at $27 billion.

Farm bill text released in U.S. House, setting up fight with Senate

“It’s been clear that there has been a coalition historically that is central to the passage of the farm bill, which understands the importance of addressing the nutrition programs and the farm programs,” Vilsack said. “It is essentially a crack in the coalition that is absolutely necessary to the passage of the farm bill … The fact that we’re crossing that red line raises the real possibility of being unable to get a farm bill through the process.”

He said he also has a problem with a section of the House bill dealing with the Commodity Credit Corporation, which carries out various farm programs.

The legislation would restrict the USDA’s authority to use the CCC’s Section 5, which Vilsack said would tie the agency’s hands in responding to natural disasters affecting farmers and force USDA to rely on Congress to enact disaster assistance.

“There’s no assurance that such bills get passed,” Vilsack said. “And secondly, oftentimes Congress underfunds those bills, as was the case so recently with the 2023 situation disasters.”

He said Thompson is proposing “essentially to eliminate the capacity of the secretary of Agriculture to utilize the CCC in the face of a natural disaster, for example, that distorts markets.” He also said he believes the bill overestimates the savings that would be obtained.

Vilsack said he prefers a farm bill proposal offered by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, describing it as “more practical” and “doable.” Stabenow, who has released a summary of her bill but not the text, would boost eligibility for nutrition programs such as SNAP, among other provisions.

Chair defends proposal

Thompson, in a statement after the call, pushed back on Vilsack’s comments and said his bill makes “historic investments” in agriculture.

“It’s clear from this eleventh hour push that the Secretary is determined to use every penny of the borrowing authority made available to him to circumvent Congress if left unchecked,” he said. “The Committee is reasserting Congress’ authority over the Commodity Credit Corporation, which will bring reckless administrative spending under control and provides funding for key bipartisan priorities in the farm bill.

“The sudden rancor on using the CCC as a pay-for is nothing more than the latest partisan attempt to divide our committee and slow down progress on passing a farm bill.”

The committee in a press release Wednesday also listed multiple statements of praise for the Thompson proposal, including the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the CEO of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and leaders of various commodity and trade groups.

MAY 22, 2024:

South Dakota Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson announces that a petition submitted for an initiated constitutional amendment was validated and filed by her office Tuesday (May 21, 2024). This ballot question would amend the Constitution of South Dakota to establish top-two primary elections. The title for the ballot question will be Constitutional Amendment H, and it will appear on the 2024 General Election ballot on November 5, 2024.

An initiated amendment currently requires 35,017 valid signatures in order to appear on the ballot. As outlined in SDCL § 2-1-16, the Secretary of State’s Office conducted a random sample of the petition signatures and found 84.47 percent to be valid. Additional part-time staff was hired to assist with the validation process. Based on the results of the random sample, 36,350 signatures were deemed valid.

Upon the filing of an initiated amendment, any citizen may challenge the Secretary of State’s validation of the initiated amendment under SDCL § 2-1-17.1. Citizens challenging the validation must submit an original, signed affidavit listing out each specific deficiency to the Secretary of State’s Office no more than 30 days after validation. Affidavits submitted electronically will not be accepted. For this initiated amendment, the deadline to file a challenge is Thursday, June 20, 2024, at 5:00 pm central time.

More information on specific ballot questions can be found on the Secretary of State’s website: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/upcoming-elections/general-information/2024/2024-ballot-questions.aspx.

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.