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South Dakota Top-Two Primary Initiative (2022)
| South Dakota Top-Two Primary Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The South Dakota Top-Two Primary Initiative was not on the ballot in South Dakota as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The measure would have established a top-two open primary election system for candidates seeking election to the U.S. House and Senate, state legislature, governor, and elected county offices.[1][2]
Text of measure
The full text is available here.
Background
States with top-two primary elections
- See also: Top-two primary
A top-two primary is a type of open primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. Consequently, it is possible for two candidates belonging to the same political party to win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election.[3][4]
Three states use a top-two primary system. In 2004, Washington became the first state to adopt a top-two primary system for congressional and state-level elections. California followed suit in 2010. In Nebraska, a top-two primary system is utilized for state legislative elections. Because Nebraska's state legislature is nonpartisan, partisan affiliation labels are not listed alongside the names of state legislative candidates. Louisiana has a system similar to a top-two primary. Louisiana does not conduct true primary elections, instead, all candidates for congressional and state-level office, regardless of partisan affiliation, run in the general election. If a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for an office in the general election, he or she wins outright. If, however, no candidate reaches that threshold, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters.
Closed vs. open primaries
- See also: Primary election systems by state
Twenty-one (21) states conduct open primaries for congressional and state-level offices. Additionally, in Alaska, the law stipulates that political parties can determine for themselves who may participate in their primary elections.
In 14 states and the District of Columbia, at least one political party conducts closed primaries for congressional and state-level offices. In 15 states, at least one political party conducts semi-closed primaries for congressional and state-level offices.
For more information on primary systems in the different states, click here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In South Dakota, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election. Signatures must be submitted by the first Tuesday of May during a general election year.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 33,921 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was November 8, 2021.
Once the signatures have been gathered and filed, the secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method.
Details about this initiative
- Nick Reid sponsored the initiative.[1]
- The measure was approved for circulation on July 19, 2021, using volunteer circulators.[1]
- Proponents did not submit signatures by the deadline.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 South Dakota Secretary of State, "Potential 2022 Ballot Questions," accessed November 16, 2020
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Top-two primary initiative full text," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary, "Jungle primary," accessed January 13, 2016
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed September 11, 2017
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