Deuel County Commissioners Rule Only Land Owners Can Vote

Deuel County Commissioners recently rejected petitions to put initiatives on the ballot claiming only land owners can sign a petition and that it takes 30%. They are clearly wrong--they are citing a totally different law that doesn't apply to this. Their action threatens the right to initiative across the state.

I have been researching referendum and initiative in South Dakota for over a year. Bob Weber with whom I have been working asked me to help. He said, "We have lost over 1500 American lives in Iraq so the Iraqis could have the right to vote. Now, they are trying to take away the right to vote at home."

According to the South Dakota Secretary of State, citizens can place an initiative on the ballot if they “have signatures of registered voters equal to five percent of the registered voters in the county at the time of the last general election."

That would have been 161 signatures to force a vote on each of the two petitions. There were 203 signatures filed on one petition and 212 on the other -- more than enough.

But the County Commissioners denied citizens the right to vote despite the citizens having followed the law.

According to the South Dakota Secretary of State, a special election must be held "within 60 days of filing the petitions." The only exception is when an election is already scheduled within three months. Then the measure is "to be included on that election ballot."

Both of the petitions rejected by the commission would amend the county's zoning ordinances.

We in South Dakota have a long tradition of direct democracy. South Dakota was the first state in the union to adopt the referendum and initiative. What a tragedy it would be if we were to destroy this important part of democracy.

A referendum allows citizens to circulate a petition to stop legislative acts from taking effect. An initiative permits citizens to propose a new law or amend an existing law.

Both petitions were initiatives asking that existing ordinances be “amended as follows.” Only twenty days are allowed to collect signatures for a referendum. However, for an initiative, according to the Secretary of State’s webpage, “There is no limit on the amount of time to circulate the petition.”

The public shouldn't have to hire a lawyer when the couunty commission's advisors make a wrong decision such as the one they've made. South Dakota state law couldn't be clearer. It says, the right to initiative "shall rest with five percent of the registered voters in the county."

Years ago in the South, there used to be poll taxes to discourage blacks from voting. To insist Deuel County citizens must first hire a lawyer in order to exercise their right to vote amounts to nothing less than an expensive poll tax.

Bill Du Bois, April 2005