South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs has received petitions for the first proposed ballot question for the 2018 election.
Officials with Represent South Dakota say they submitted more than 50,000 signatures in support of the South Dakota Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment on Wednesday.
The proposed constitutional amendment tightens campaign finance and lobbying restrictions and bans campaign dollars from corporations and unions. The idea also installs contribution limits for candidates running for statewide office and for seats in the Legislature.
Doug Kroniazl is an organizer with Represent South Dakota. He says there are a few differences between this idea and Initiated Measure 22.
"Unlike I-M 22, the Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment does not have any democracy credits, does not have any publicly financed elections, as part of it. And then, the other big difference is this initiative and referendum protection. These legislative tampering clauses that make it so that any changes to the initiated measure process, or measures passed through that process, need voter approval before they go into effect," Kroniazl says.
The State Legislature repealed Initated Measure 22 last session. Kroniazl says South Dakotans support efforts to prevent legislators from repealing voter-approved measures without public input.
He says he disagrees with some state Republicans who argue the driving force for this idea and for efforts similar to last year's Initiated Measure 22 come from out-of-state.
"That totally ignores the many South Dakotans who turned out to Pierre during the repeal [of Initiated Measure 22], the many South Dakotans who came and testified, and then the many South Dakotans whose opinions and viewpoints and perspectives crafted this very amendment. The contents of this amendment came from conversations we had in Pierre, in Mitchell, in Rapid City," Kronaizl says.
Officials with the Secretary of State's office will conduct a random sample of the signatures to ensure they are valid. The proposal will appear on the 2018 ballot if the signatures are verified.
Kroniazl says he expects that process to take several months.