South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has signed a bill into law to allow signers of ballot initiative petitions to withdraw their signatures — a move opponents see as an attack on direct democracy and a proposed abortion rights initiative that voters would allow it to protect abortion rights in the state. constitution.
The Republican governor signed the bill into law on Friday. The Republican-led Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill introduced by Republican Rep. Jon Hansen, who leads a group seeking to defeat the proposed initiative. Hansen said he introduced the bill to combat deceptive or fraudulent initiative tactics, alleging “multiple violations of our laws regarding circulation.”
“Encouraging someone to sign a petition through misleading information or fraud is not democracy. That is fraud,” Hansen said in an interview last month. “This supports the ideal of democracy, which means that people decide, one or the other, based on the truth of the matter.”
Republican lawmakers have grumbled about South Dakota’s initiative process, including the Medicaid expansion, which voters approved in 2022.
Democrats labeled Hansen’s bill as “changing the rules mid-game” and called it open to potential abuse, even though there were already enough laws on the books to ensure initiatives are implemented properly.
Opponents also criticize the bill’s emergency clause, which would affect Noem’s signature, denying the opportunity for a referendum. Rick Weiland, leader of the abortion rights initiative, called the bill “a new attack on direct democracy.”
“It is quite clear that our legislature does not respect the will of the voters, nor this long-held tradition of being able to petition our state government and pass laws that voters do not like, and passing laws where the legislature doesn’t want to continue. and amend our state constitution,” Weiland said.
South Dakota bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother.
The bill is “another desperate attempt to throw another hurdle, another roadblock” in the initiative’s path, Weiland said. Opponents of the initiative have tried to “convince people that they signed something they didn’t understand,” he said.
If voters approve the proposed initiative, the state would be prohibited from regulating abortion in the first trimester. Second trimester regulations would only be permitted in ways reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.
Dakotans for Health has until May 7 to submit approximately 35,000 valid signatures for the November ballot. Weiland said they have more than 50,000 signatures, 44,000 of which are “internally validated.”
It is unclear how the new law could affect the initiative. Weiland said he doesn’t expect wholesale repeals but will see how the law is implemented.
The law requires notices of withdrawal of signatures to be notarized and delivered by hand or certified mail to the Secretary of State before the petition is filed and certified.