Ballot questions

Rep. Liz May, R-Kyle, on the floor of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Pierre on Feb. 22, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

House passes bill requiring initiated amendments to get signatures from every district

BY: - February 22, 2023

PIERRE — The South Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would make it more difficult for citizens to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. A petition drive to force a vote on a constitutional amendment already requires signatures from registered voters equivalent to 10 percent of the votes cast in the […]

COMMENTARY
Rep. Fred Deutsch, R-Florence, testifies before the South Dakota House State Affairs Committee during the 2023 legislative session. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Lawmakers rightly kill anti-democracy bill for many of the wrong reasons

BY: - January 20, 2023

Sometimes lawmakers do the right thing, but for the wrong reasons. A case in point would be the defeat of House Joint Resolution 5001 early Friday morning by the House State Affairs Committee. HJR 5001, sponsored by Rep. Fred Deutsch, R-Florence, would require that backers of a defeated constitutional amendment wait one general election cycle […]