State Feed: South Dakota

South Dakota: Lawmakers Leery of Tax Measure

AmandaKathryn — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:15:58 -0500

South Dakota lawmakers are leery of a ballot measure that would boost the state sales tax by 1 percentage point to give extra money to school districts and the health care program for low-income people, according to a survey by The Associated Press.

Billboard company suing Rapid City, SD over code

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:43:14 -0400

The billboard company Lamar is suing Rapid City over a citizen’s initiative that it says “effectively creates a ban on all types of new outdoor off-premises advertising.”

According to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Lamar received 94 sign credits for removing some billboards and replacing others with smaller signs. The credits were supposed to allow Lamar to erect new signs or convert existing signs to digital billboards.

But in a June 7 election, voters approved measures prohibiting digital billboards, increasing the required space between two signs, capping a company’s sign credits at 20 and limiting the life of unused sign credits to 20 years.

South Dakota: Billboard measure on today's ballot

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:52:58 -0400

Two billboard initiatives plus races for mayor and city council are on the ballot in Tuesday’s election in Rapid City. The initiated measures would, among other things, double the distance required between new billboards and ban new digital billboards. Incumbent Alan Hanks is among four candidates running for mayor. There also are four contested seats for Rapid City Council.

Read the story from the Daily Journal

South Dakota: Initiative on billboards will be on ballot in June

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:44:51 -0400

Voters in Rapid City will decide June 7 whether to ban new digital billboards and restrict the proliferation of other billboards within city limits, but opponents are promising a legal battle. The Rapid City Council on Monday voted unanimously to accept two resident-driven initiated measures and set them for a citywide vote to coincide with the municipal election in June.

Read the story from the Rapid City Journal

South Dakota: Bill to put taxes to a vote backed by panel

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:47:26 -0500

Voters looking to put a tax increase on a statewide ballot as a response to Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s proposed budget cuts might not have to wait until 2012. A bill endorsed Wednesday by the Senate State Affairs Committee would change the state’s election law temporarily by opening the door to initiated measures this November, one year before the next general election.

Read the story from the Argus Leader

South Dakota: Sioux Tribal President Faces Recall, Officials Hamper Petition Effort

Staff — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:34:01 -0500

Rosebud Sioux Tribe members are currently circulating a recall petition against tribal President Rodney Bordeaux, citing mismanagement of tribal affairs. While Bordeaux defends himself, the Rapid City Journal reports that tribal officials are hampering signature collection efforts:

Citizens in Charge Foundation President Calls on 12 States to End Unconstitutional Election Laws

Staff — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:43:47 -0400

Last week Citizens in Charge Foundation - a partner organization to Citizens in Charge - sent a letter to Secretaries of State and Attorneys General in 12 states asking them to stop enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on ballot initiative rights. In light of recent legal action in which Kansas officials agreed with petition advocates that the state’s law against petition circulators from other states was unconstitutional, Foundation President Paul Jacob asked officials to “do the right thing” and stop enforcing similar

Pot Sprouting on Ballots Nationwide

Staff — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:12:53 -0400

One of the greatest strengths of the initiative process is that it allows citizens to deal with issues or present positions that politician are unlikely to every tackle. Among those issues is drug policy reform, and the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana in particular.

South Dakota: Ballot measure suit from union group

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:12:08 -0400

A labor agency goes to court today in Pierre as it sues state officials over a ballot issue in the November election. The South Dakota State Federation of Labor objects to how Attorney General Marty Jackley explains a constitutional amendment concerning how employees in a workplace may join a union. A hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. today before Circuit Judge John Brown in the Hughes County Courthouse.

Read the story from the Argus Leader

South Dakota: Registered but inactive voters can sign petition

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:51:17 -0500

State senators changed legislation Thursday so that registered voters who have been inactive would still have the right to sign petitions to put a constitutional amendment, initiative or referendum on the South Dakota election ballot. The legislation, Senate Bill 13, contains a variety of changes in South Dakota election laws. It now heads to the House of Representatives for a committee hearing and possible action by the full House.

Read the story from The Daily Republic

Investigation into initiative donor will be dropped

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:21:53 -0500

In 2006, South Dakota had an initiative on the ballot to ban virtually all abortions. An anonymous donor had contributed $750,000 to get the initiative on the ballot and to carry on the campaign for it. The measure lost, 46% to 54%. Also in 2006, the South Dakota Secretary of State had sued the campaign committee set up to promote the initiative to learn the identity of the committee’s donor.

Voter turnout could be higher with smoking ban measure on ballot

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:45:34 -0500

South Dakota’s voter turnout for next November’s election could be a lot different than past years. A local political science professor says a smoking ban on that ballot would likely lure more people to the polls. He says that could have an impact on other initiatives and political races.

Read the story from Keloland Television

Group forms to oppose a ballot measure in South Dakota

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:43:46 -0500

A new group is forming in opposition to the idea of bringing embryonic stem cell research back to a South Dakota ballot. The Coalition for Cures Not Cloning is the new group. They say they’ll be making an official announcement Thursday. The group will be planning efforts to fight a 2010 initiative that would reverse the current ban on cloning and embryonic stem cell research.

Read the story from KSFY

Stem cell initiative drive in South Dakota getting positive reponse

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:27:55 -0400

In a drive to get an initiative before voters in 2010 that would allow embryonic stem cell research in South Dakota, David Volk is convinced he has tapped into a wellspring of enthusiasm. “For 40 years I’ve been in South Dakota politics in one form or another. I’ve never been involved in a campaign for a candidate or an issue campaign where I’ve had this response,” says the former state treasurer, who suffered from cancer, an area of inquiry for stem cell research.

Legal fight over South Dakota ballot measure signatures

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:42:05 -0400

The legal battle over South Dakota’s strengthened smoking ban focuses on a judge’s decision about whether technical errors were substantial enough to toss out more than 25,000 petition signatures calling for a statewide public vote on the issue. Bars and gambling businesses that oppose the ban collected signatures to force a public vote in the November 2010 election, but Secretary of State Chris Nelson eventually rejected the petitions, ruling that too few valid signatures were submitted. The petitions fell 221 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot, he said.

Honoring the Voters' Will In South Dakota

Staff — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:33:12 -0400

The fight continues in South Dakota over banning smoking in state bars and restaurants. The focus is now on how referendum petitions were notarized, and the voices of over 2000 voters could be silenced in the debate.

Previous failed amendment helps supporters of petition currently circulating

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:40:10 -0400

Questions raised over the smoking ban petition are a lesson for another group hoping to get its initiative on the ballot. With 7,500 signatures, the petition to bring the issue of legalizing medical marijuana to a state-wide vote is well on its way. “The pace has really picked up, and I’m very confident we’ll meet our goal of 25,000 signatures by the end of August,” Petition Coordinator Emmett Reistroffer said.

Read the story from Keloland Television

Claim of insufficient signatures stalls smoking ban vote in South Dakota

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:08:49 -0400

Circuit Judge Mark Barnett issued an order Monday preventing South Dakota’s expanded smoking ban from taking effect until a legal fight is decided over whether there should be a statewide vote. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Chris Nelson said Monday that another step might be necessary in the future to cover a gap in the random-sample process South Dakota uses for checking signatures on ballot-measure petitions. That gap is a key in the dispute over whether there can be a statewide vote on the ban which was passed by the Legislature last winter.

Enough signatures for smoking ban law to be referred to the 2010 ballot

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:16:56 -0400

South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson confirmed last Thursday that sufficient signatures had been collected and submitted to refer a law banning smoking to the November 2010 ballot. Both the S.D. House and Senate passed HB 1240 by a wide margins and Governor Mike Rounds signed the bill into law on March 30. HB 1240 “prohibits smoking or carrying lighted tobacco products in certain places and to require certain persons to inform violators of the prohibition.”

South Dakota town's manure removal issue still unsettled

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:30:35 -0400

The Hot Springs City Council accepted a municipal initiative petition at its April 6 meeting, which will place the issue of the Martin Dahl horse manure situation before the voters. Petition circulators gathered 193 signatures according to city finance officer Cheryl Wait, far surpassing the five percent of registered voters needed.

Read the story from the Hot Springs Star