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South Dakota Legislative Vacancies Amendment (2020)
| South Dakota Legislative Vacancies Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic State legislatures measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The South Dakota Legislative Vacancies Amendment was not on the ballot in South Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
Measure design
The measure would have amended the state constitution to change the way legislative vacancies are filled. As of 2019, the governor appointde people to fill vacancies. This measure would have transferred that responsibility to the central committee of the party with which the vacating person was affiliated. If a vacancy was left by someone unaffiliated with a political party, the governor would have still been responsible for appointing someone to fill that vacancy.[1]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article III, South Dakota Constitution
The measure would have amended section 10 of Article III of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added and struck-through text would have been deleted:[1]
§ 10. The Governor shall make appointments to fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the Legislature If a vacancy occurs in either house of the Legislature, the central committee of the party with which the vacating person was affiliated shall appoint another to fill the vacancy. If the person had no party affiliation, the vacancy shall be filled by the Governor.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the South Dakota Constitution
In South Dakota, a constitutional amendment needs to be passed by a simple majority vote in both chambers of the state legislature to be certified for the ballot.
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 1001 on January 25, 2019. The measure was passed in the House on February 25, 2019, in a vote of 42 to 25 with three Republican representatives— Julie Frye-Mueller, Jess Olson, and Tony Randolph —excused. Of the 11 House Democrats, all voted yes except Ryan Cwach. Of the 59 House Republicans, 32 voted yes and 24 voted no. The measure failed in the Senate on March 7, 2019, by a vote of 15 to 19.[3]
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 South Dakota Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 1001," accessed March 1, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ South Dakota State Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 1001," accessed March 7, 2019
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State of South Dakota Pierre (capital) |
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