South Dakota lawmakers’ ability to repeal voter-approved laws will not be disturbed after the 2024 election.
A proposed amendment to the state Constitution aimed at prohibiting the Legislature from modifying any statute placed in law by South Dakota voters for seven years following its passage will not be on this year’s ballot.
That’s according to Vox Populi: Our Choice, the ballot question committee formed last year in hopes of putting the proposal before voters in November. VPOC Chairman Brian Bengs said the organization is no longer circulating petitions and instead will consider reactivating its signature drive ahead of the 2026 election.
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Bengs, an Aberdeen Democrat who challenged incumbent U.S. Sen. John Thune in 2022, said after establishing the committee and getting the proposed amendment approved for signature circulation by the Secretary of State’s Office, his organization soon found voters are fatigued by the number of ballot measures they’re being asked to sign.
From another vote on Medicaid policy and a food tax repeal to overhauling the primary election process and legalizing cannabis, South Dakotans could see a half dozen or more questions on their ballot when they head to the polls in November.
“The ballot is going to be crowded so we thought it made sense to wait,” Bengs said, adding that VPOC also faced resistance from some who attempted to tie its effort to an ongoing petition drive to legalize abortion at the ballot.
Legislature has previously trumped South Dakota voters
Bengs said VPOC was organized independently of any other ballot question committee, and its proposed initiated measure was not conceived with the notion of protecting any specific action voters might take at the ballot. Rather, the idea of allowing voter-approved laws to remain on the books untouched for seven years is a response to a state Legislature that’s often at odds with its electorate on policy, he said.
In 2016, for example, voters approved a series of state campaign finance and lobbying laws, created a publicly funded campaign finance program and created an ethics commission through what was called Initiated Measure 22. State lawmakers, though, said the new laws were unworkable and repealed them during the 2017 session.
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And since voters in 2020 mandated South Dakota’s Department of Health create a medical marijuana program while legalizing medicinal use of cannabis, lawmakers each year have brought legislation intended to narrow the law. In 2021, Gov. Kristi Noem and House Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to delay implementation of Initiated Measure 26 by one year.
Bengs said he has tentative plans to begin circulating the proposal again next year, particularly if the 2025 state Legislature attempts to repeal any measures voters approve at the ballot this fall.
“Almost certainly,” he said.