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AG Reviews US Senate Candidate Petitions

State officials are looking into possible criminal violations connected to campaign petitions for a federal election. Attorney General Marty Jackley confirms he’s investigating elements of the United State Senate petitions.

Jackley isn’t naming names when it comes to his office’s investigation into possible crimes related to U-S Senate candidate petitions. But he says he’s not reviewing every petition from every Congressional hopeful.

"The Attorney General, at this point, is reviewing only the concerns raised by the Secretary of State, and those concerns pertain directly to several candidates’ petitions for United States Senate," Jackley says.

Those petitions are already approved by Secretary of State Jason Gant, who confirms signatures on the nominating forms are valid. Jackley says the Secretary of State wants his office to review other elements of the procedure for violations.

"The most I can say at this point is the Secretary of State has forwarded concerns to the Attorney General that really go beyond the Secretary of State’s authority under elections, that go into the realm of potential criminal concerns, that we are going to take a look at those criminal concerns," Jackley says. "And then, if they have merit, we will investigate it like we do any potential crimes and properly address them."

The Attorney General and US Attorney Brendan Johnson are conferring on the review, because the subject is a federal election.

Jackley says a potential investigation and due process procedures take too long for any findings by the June primary election. He says the review won’t impact who’s on the ballot in November, either, so South Dakotans still choose the next United States Senator from all of the candidates in the race.

Kealey Bultena grew up in South Dakota, where her grandparents took advantage of the state’s agriculture at nap time, tricking her into car rides to “go see cows.” Rarely did she stay awake long enough to see the livestock, but now she writes stories about the animals – and the legislature and education and much more. Kealey worked in television for four years while attending the University of South Dakota. She started interning with South Dakota Public Broadcasting in September 2010 and accepted a position with television in 2011. Now Kealey is the radio news producer stationed in Sioux Falls. As a multi-media journalist, Kealey prides herself on the diversity of the stories she tells and the impact her work has on people across the state. Kealey is always searching for new ideas. Let her know of a great story! Find her on Facebook and twitter (@KealeySDPB).