Update: With a 10-1 vote, the House State Affairs Committee voted to advance House Bill 1169.
Background: House Bill 1169 would modify the signature requirement for a petition to initiate a constitutional amendment.
Our position: The ACLU of South Dakota opposes House Bill 1169. This bill would require citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to acquire petition signatures from each legislative district amounting to 5% of the total votes cast for governor in the previous election.
South Dakotans are well-versed in direct democracy. The state was the first in the nation to adopt an initiative and referendum process in 1898, giving citizens the power to propose and approve laws under which they live. In 1972, citizens were given the ability to petition for constitutional amendments to be added to the ballot.
House Bill 1169 would make it harder to initiate an amendment or measure. South Dakotans only use the citizen initiative process if the state legislature is not accountable to the voters. Our legislators should be doing everything they can to encourage people to participate in democracy, not try to thwart it.