Laws governing ballot measures in South Dakota

Laws governing ballot measures
State
• Laws governing state initiative processes
• Laws governing state recall processes
• Changes to ballot measure law in 2025
• Difficulty analysis of changes to laws governing ballot measures
• Analysis of 2025 changes to laws governing ballot measures
Local
• Laws governing local ballot measures
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This page provides an overview of resources addressing the laws and procedures that govern statewide and local ballot measures in South Dakota, including the initiative and referendum process, constitutional amendments, signature requirements, recall procedures, and campaign finance regulations.

Explore the links below for more information:

• Types of ballot measures in South Dakota
• Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota
• Amending the South Dakota Constitution
• Laws governing local ballot measures in South Dakota
• Signature requirements for ballot measures in South Dakota
• Laws governing recall in South Dakota
• Laws governing state constitutional conventions in South Dakota
• Campaign finance requirements for South Dakota ballot measures
• Changes to laws governing ballot measures in South Dakota

Laws governing ballot measures in South Dakota

Types of ballot measures in South Dakota

• South Dakota has four types of citizen-initiated ballot measures: initiated constitutional amendments, initiated state statutes, and veto referendums.

• In South Dakota, the legislature can refer constitutional amendments and constitutional convention questions to the ballot.

Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota

• In South Dakota, citizens have the power to initiate state statutes or constitutional amendments, as well as the power to repeal legislation through veto referendums.

• In 1898, voters adopted a constitutional amendment allowing for initiated statutes and veto referendums.

• In 1972, voters approved a revised constitution, which included the power to initiate constitutional amendments.

Amending the South Dakota Constitution

• South Dakota became a state in 1889. The current state constitution was ratified in 1889.

• The South Dakota Constitution can be amended in three ways:
  • Legislatively referred constitutional amendment: The South Dakota Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot, with a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session.
  • Initiated constitutional amendment: Citizens can initiate constitutional amendments in South Dakota.
  • Convention-referred constitutional amendment: A state constitutional convention can vote to refer constitutional changes to the ballot.

Laws governing local ballot measures in South Dakota

• Article IX, Section 2 of the South Dakota Constitution provides for charter amendments through initiative and referendum.

• South Dakota Code of Laws 9-20-1 mandates initiative and referendum for ordinances in all cities.

Signature requirements for ballot measures in South Dakota

• In South Dakota, the number of signatures required to place a measure on the ballot is based on the total number of votes cast for the governor in the preceding election:
  • initiated constitutional amendments: 10% of the votes
  • initiated state statutes: 5% of the votes
  • veto referendums: 5% of the votes

Laws governing recall in South Dakota

• South Dakota does not provide for the recall of state officials.

• Per Sections 13(29) through 13(35) of Chapter 9 of South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL), the right of recall extends to "the mayor, any commissioner, any alderman, or any member of the board of trustees" in municipal jurisdictions.

Laws governing state constitutional conventions in South Dakota

• According to Article XXIII, Section 2 of the South Dakota Constitution, the South Dakota State Legislature can call a state constitutional convention through a 75% vote in each legislative chamber.

• Citizens can initiative a constitutional convention question using the same procedures as an initiated constitutional amendment.
  • Approval of the constitutional convention question requires a simple majority vote.

Campaign finance requirements for South Dakota ballot measures

• PACs that support or oppose ballot measures in South Dakota must register and report campaign finance.

Changes to laws governing ballot measures in South Dakota

See also: Changes to laws governing ballot measures

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

See also: Changes in 2025 to laws governing ballot measures

• Senate Joint Resolution 5003: The proposed constitutional amendment, which requires voter approval in 2026, was designed to require a 60% supermajority vote (rather than a simple majority of 50%+1) to approve constitutional amendments.

SJR 5003 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	29	4	2	61	5	3
Democratic (D)	0	2	1	1	5	0
Republican (R)	29	2	1	60	0	3

• Senate Bill 13: The bill provided that voter-approved local ballot measures become effective the day after the official canvass of the election is completed.

SB 13 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	35	0	0	68	0	0
Democratic (D)	3	0	0	6	0	0
Republican (R)	32	0	0	62	0	0

• Senate Bill 91: The bill required initiative petitions to include the full text and ballot language in fourteen-point font for statutory measures and veto referendum measures and sixteen-point font for constitutional measures; required veto referendum signatures to be filed within 90 days after the legislative session adjourns and include a sworn affidavit stating the petition contains the required number of valid signatures.

SB 91 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	32	3	0	70	0	0
Democratic (D)	0	3	0	6	0	0
Republican (R)	32	0	0	64	0	0

• Senate Bill 92: The bill required the director of the Legislative Research Council and the secretary of state to review filed initiatives to ensure compliance with the state's single-subject rule.

SB 92 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	34	0	1	70	0	0
Democratic (D)	3	0	0	6	0	0
Republican (R)	31	0	1	64	0	0

• Senate Bill 106: The bill required initiative petition sponsors to be a registered voter in South Dakota.

SB 106 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	35	0	0	70	0	0
Democratic (D)	3	0	0	6	0	0
Republican (R)	32	0	0	64	0	0

• Senate Bill 1256: The bill required valid signatures from 5% of the total qualified electors in the state to qualify a statutory initiative or veto referendum for the ballot (rather than 5% of the votes cast for governor); require signers for all ballot measures (statutory, constitutional, and veto referendums) to include their name, signature, address matching their voter registration in the county they are registered, and the date of signing.

SB 1256 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	21	12	2	61	9	0
Democratic (D)	0	2	1	2	4	0
Republican (R)	21	10	1	59	5	0

• House Bill 1063: The bill required the Legislative Research Council to review fiscal notes for South Dakota ballot measures after they are certified for the ballot and requires the fiscal note to be updated by August 1 before the election if the previous fiscal note contains inaccurate or outdated information.

HB 1063 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	35	0	0	68	0	1
Democratic (D)	3	0	0	6	0	0
Republican (R)	32	0	0	62	0	1

• House Bill 1093: The bill required measures to enter an agreement or issue capital outlay certificates to be on the ballot in March, June, or November (rather than at the next regular election).

HB 1093 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	19	16	0	52	18	0
Democratic (D)	0	3	0	1	5	0
Republican (R)	19	13	0	51	13	0

• House Bill 1169 (Vetoed): The bill would have established a distribution requirement of at least 5% of votes cast for governor in each senate district and require petition sheets to include the senate district.

HB 1169 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	19	15	1	63	6	1
Democratic (D)	0	2	1	0	5	1
Republican (R)	19	13	0	63	1	0

• House Bill 1184: The bill changed the signature deadline for initiatives from the first Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in February, thereby shortening the signature collection time from 24 months to 21 months.

HB 1184 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	19	15	1	59	9	1
Democratic (D)	0	2	1	0	6	0
Republican (R)	19	13	0	59	3	1

See also: Changes in 2024 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Bill 1244: The bill provided for a process for individuals who signed an initiative petition to submit a written request to the secretary of state's office to remove their signature from the petition. Under the bill, removed signatures cannot be not counted as valid in any legal challenge to the validity of a petition.

HB 1244 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	28	5	2	60	10	0
Democratic (D)	0	3	1	2	5	0
Republican (R)	28	2	1	58	5	0

• Senate Bill 182: The bill repealed sections of state law, which created a residency requirement and a badge requirement for petition circulators, that were overturned by a court ruling.

SB 182 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	32	0	2	70	0	0
Democratic (D)	4	0	0	7	0	0
Republican (R)	28	0	2	63	0	0

See also: Changes in 2023 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Bill 1140: The legislation required that the secretary of state to determine if a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, like an initiated constitutional amendment, complies with the single-subject rule and is not a constitutional revision. Under HB 1140, the secretary of state must not certify constitutional amendments that contain more than one subject or are revisions.

HB 1140 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	35	0	0	67	1	2
Democratic (D)	4	0	0	7	0	0
Republican (R)	31	0	0	60	1	2

• Senate Bill 46: The bill established that falsely attesting to personally circulating a petition when gathering signatures is a Class 6 felony. Previously, it was a Class 1 misdemeanor.

SB 46 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	31	4	0	68	0	2
Democratic (D)	0	4	0	7	0	0
Republican (R)	31	0	0	61	0	2

• Senate Bill 113: The bill changed the initiative signature deadline to the first Tuesday in May of a general election year.

SB 113 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	22	2	11	65	5	0
Democratic (D)	3	0	1	7	0	0
Republican (R)	19	2	10	58	5	0

See also: Changes in 2022 to laws governing ballot measures

• Senate Bill 2: The bill required that ballot initiatives approved by voters be published in the state's session laws.

• Senate Bill 138: The legislation clarified provisions related to when a local referendum against an ordinance or resolution can be filed. Language changed from "within 20 days... after publication" to "within 20 days... after publication of the ordinance or resolution in the last to publish official county newspaper."

• Senate Bill 187: The bill required state agencies to provide information requested by the Legislative Research Council to prepare fiscal notes for ballot initiatives.

See also: Changes in 2021 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Joint Resolution 5003 (Amendment C): The constitutional amendment would have required a three-fifths (60%) vote for the approval of citizen-initiated ballot measures or legislative referrals that would increase taxes or fees or require the state to appropriate $10 million or more in the first five fiscal years. Voters rejected the constitutional amendment on June 7, 2022.

• Senate Bill 77: The legislation required a 14-point font for the text of citizen-initiated ballot measures.

• Senate Bill 86: The bill required the director of the Legislative Research Council to provide a written opinion regarding whether an initiative violates the state's single-subject rule, provided that the secretary of state cannot approve an initiative for circulation if the initiative violates the single-subject rule, and established a process for challenging the determination in the state Supreme Court.

• Senate Bill 123: The legislation created a 10-day comment period for the attorney general's draft ballot title and summary.

See also: Changes in 2020 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Bill 1049: The legislation capped the number of words for support and opposition statements about ballot initiatives found in voter information pamphlets at 300 words each.

• House Bill 1053: The bill made clarifying changes to the process for submitting initiatives to the Legislative Research Council.

• Senate Bill 180: The legislation required paid circulators to provide their residential address, phone number, driver's license state, voter registration information, sex offender status, and other information, and SB 180 classified this information as public record. Under SB 180, signatures were considered void when a signature gatherer did not meet the registration requirements. SB 180 also required signature gatherers — paid or volunteer — to be residents of South Dakota for at least 30 days.

• In 2023, the U.S. District Court for South Dakota ruled that SB 180 was unconstitutional.

See also: Changes in 2019 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Bill 1093: The legislation provided that the public can have access to a random sample of signed petitions for ballot initiatives within 30 days of a request. HB 1093 also provided that when a person challenges petition signatures from a random sample, the challenged percentage applies to the total batch of signatures.

• House Bill 1094: The legislation was designed to make several changes to the laws governing petition circulators, such as requiring paid signature gatherers to register with the state; obtain a circulator identification number; provide certain information, such as the circulator's physical address, email address, phone number, occupation, and driver's license and voter registration state; create a $20 registration fee for paid petition circulators; and require signature gatherers to wear a badge that identifies the committee and ballot measure for which they are collecting signatures, as well as their paid or volunteer status, among other changes.

• Senate Bill 92: The legislation provided that signature calculation for municipal initiatives and referendums is based on the number of registered voters in that jurisdiction on the second Tuesday in January in the year the petition was filed. SB 92 also provided that when a petition is filed before the second Tuesday in January, the prior year's calculation is applied.

See also: Changes in 2018 to laws governing ballot measures

• House Bill 1002: The legislation redefined ballot question committee to also include committees spending funds to oppose ballot measures before their certification.

• House Bill 1004: The legislation gave the State Board of Elections the power to make rules related to initiative petition size and font size.

• House Bill 1005: The legislation established precise wording for the ballot language for citizen-initiated ballot measures as follows:

• For initiated constitutional amendments: "Vote 'Yes' to adopt the amendment" and "Vote 'No' to leave the Constitution as it is."
• For initiated state statutes: "Vote 'Yes' to adopt the initiated measure" and "Vote 'No' to leave South Dakota law as it is."
• For veto referendums: "Vote 'Yes' to repeal the Act of the Legislature" and "Vote 'No' to allow the Act of the Legislature to become law."

• House Bill 1006: The legislation provided that the Legislative Research Council should offer written comments regarding the substantive content of proposed ballot initiatives for the purposes of minimizing conflicts with existing laws and ensuring the effective administration of the measure.

• House Bill 1007: The legislation established a single-subject rule for citizen-initiated state statutes.

• House Bill 1177: The legislation required initiative petition sheets to include the name, phone number, email address, and the paid or volunteer status of the signature gatherer. HB 1177 also required paid signature gatherers to include how much they're being paid.

• House Bill 1196: The legislation required a signature gatherer to provide a sworn statement attesting to residency, as well as the circulator's vehicle license state, voter registration state, current address, addresses of two previous residences, a statement expressing the circulator's intention to remain in the state following the petition effort, other information to prove residency, and other information.

• House Bill 1304: The legislation provided that the defendants in legal challenges to signature petitions or a circulator's attestation are the petition sponsors, rather than the attorney general, except in cases about the state's process of signature verification. HB 1304 also allowed challengers to reference the secretary of state’s signature verification results in court

• House Joint Resolution 1006 (Constitutional Amendment Z): The amendment created a single-subject rule for constitutional amendments, whether initiated or referred. Voters approved the constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

• Senate Bill 7: The legislation prohibited ballot question committees from making contributions to statewide candidates and political parties and specified that ballot question committees can receive unlimited contributions from various entities, such as individuals and political action committees.

• Senate Bill 9: The legislation provided that the Legislative Research Council must provide a fiscal note — to be included on the ballot — when a measure would have a fiscal impact, according to the office's analysis.

• Senate Bill 10: The legislation provided that when initiated measures or constitutional amendments passed at the same election conflict with one another, the measure receiving the highest number of votes becomes enacted.

• Senate Bill 11: The legislation required proponents of an initiative or referendum to submit the measure to the Legislative Research Council for review and comment at least six months prior to when the initiative can be circulated.

• Senate Bill 13: The legislation required the Legislative Research Council to provide the sponsor of an initiative with a fiscal note when the office determines that the proposed initiative would impact revenues, expenditures, or fiscal liability of the state.

• Senate Bill 77: The legislation provided that donors to a ballot question committee do not need to report certain information for donated goods or services.

• Senate Bill 128: The legislation required a ballot question committee to be terminated following two successive reporting periods without any activity.

• Senate Joint Resolution 1 (Constitutional Amendment X): The amendment would have required a 55% vote to approve constitutional amendments. Voters rejected the constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.

See also

• Laws governing ballot measures

Footnotes

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Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Citizen-initiated ballot measures • Legislatively referred ballot measures • Automatically referred ballot measures • Commission-referred ballot measures • Convention-referred constitutional amendments

Ballot measure policy terms

Glossary of ballot measure policy terms