Search Bills

Modify the voter registration deadline.

This bill extends South Dakota's voter registration deadline from 15 days before an election to 30 days before an election, giving people more time to register to vote. The change applies to both regular elections and runoff elections, and also requires the State Board of Elections to establish rules for sharing voter registration information by computer between agencies and the secretary of state.

Designate an individual using the address of a mail forwarding service or post office box when applying to register as a voter or vote by absentee ballot as a federal voter.

South Dakota voters who live overseas or use a mail forwarding service or post office box as their address can now register to vote and cast absentee ballots using that alternative address instead of a physical residential address. The bill modifies the state's definition of "residence" for voting purposes to allow these individuals to qualify as voters, removing the requirement that voters maintain an actual fixed permanent dwelling in the state.

Require that an individual registering as a voter when applying for a driver license be a resident of this state for the purposes of voting.

SB 73 changes the definition of "principal residence" for driver's license purposes to require that it be a physical location in South Dakota where a person has lived for at least thirty days, aligning driver's license residency with voter registration requirements. The bill also allows homeless individuals to use a homeless shelter or other regular location as their principal residence for driver's license registration purposes.

Prohibit the use of voter centers in a county.

South Dakota counties would be prohibited from using "voter centers" — consolidated voting locations where voters can cast ballots anywhere in the county rather than at assigned precinct polling places. The bill eliminates this voting option by removing the legal framework that currently allows counties to operate voter centers, returning to a system where voters must vote at their designated precinct location.

Amend eligibility to vote by absentee ballot.

SB188 tightens South Dakota's absentee voting eligibility by requiring voters to have a specific reason—such as being out of the county, having a disability or illness, observing a religious holiday, attending college, or having work conflicts—rather than allowing anyone to vote by mail. The bill also changes the absentee voting period, starting it 15 days before the election for most voters instead of the current 46 days, though uniformed services and overseas voters still get the full 46-day window.

Revise provisions associated with residency for voting purposes.

SB218 clarifies South Dakota's definition of voter residency by requiring that a resident maintain an actual fixed permanent dwelling where they live and usually sleep for at least 30 consecutive days, and specifying that someone remains a resident of their county during temporary absences unless they move to another state with the intention of making it their permanent home. The bill modernizes the language in state election law to use "individual" instead of "person" and removes outdated phrasing while keeping the core residency rules largely the same.

Revise residency requirements for the purposes of voter registration.

HB1066 updates South Dakota's voter registration rules by clarifying what counts as legal residence for voting purposes and adds an exception allowing certain people to maintain their South Dakota residency even while temporarily absent from the state. Specifically, the bill protects the voting residency of people who are absent due to state or federal business, or who are on active duty in the military, allowing them to keep their South Dakota voter registration without losing their residency status.

Modify provisions pertaining to the registration of voters.

This bill changes South Dakota's voter registration rules by updating the definition of "resident" to require both physical presence in the state and an intent to stay for at least 30 days before an election, while clarifying that students and active-duty military members retain their residency status. The bill modifies several election-related statutes to align with this new definition and adds provisions to strengthen voter registration procedures.

Modify the signature requirement for a petition to initiate a constitutional amendment.

This bill changes how many signatures are needed to propose a constitutional amendment through a citizen petition. Instead of requiring signatures from at least 5% of the state's qualified voters, the new rule requires signatures from voters in each of South Dakota's senatorial districts, with each district needing at least 10% of the total votes that were cast for Governor in that district during the last governor's election.

Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election amendments to the Constitution to the State of South Dakota, increasing the number of required signatures on a petition to initiate an amendment or measure.

South Dakota voters would be asked to approve a constitutional amendment that increases the number of signatures required to start a ballot initiative or referendum (a citizen-proposed law or veto of a law). Currently, the state constitution requires signatures from no more than five percent of qualified voters; this amendment would raise that threshold, making it harder for citizens to get measures on the ballot through petition signatures.

Require an individual be a citizen of the United States before being eligible to vote and to provide a penalty therefor.

South Dakota law currently allows any person meeting residency, age, and registration requirements to vote, but this bill explicitly requires voters to be U.S. citizens and makes violating this requirement a Class 5 felony. The bill reorganizes the voting eligibility rules into a numbered list format while adding citizenship as the first and primary requirement.

Amend provisions pertaining to the process by which the qualifications of a registered voter are verified.

This bill creates a new process for removing voters from the registration rolls based on challenges to their address. A property owner can submit an affidavit stating that a registered voter doesn't actually live at their registered address, which triggers the county auditor to send a verification letter; if the voter doesn't respond or the letter is returned as undeliverable, their registration is automatically canceled.

Prohibit the use of automatic tabulating equipment.

South Dakota would ban the use of automatic tabulating equipment and electronic ballot marking systems in all elections, effective immediately for both the state and local governments. The bill removes references to these electronic systems from election law and requires ballots to be counted manually instead. This represents a shift away from the computerized voting systems currently permitted under state law.

Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election an amendment to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, clarifying that an individual must be a citizen of the United States to be eligible to vote.

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would explicitly require voters to be U.S. citizens—a clarification of existing voting law that is being submitted to South Dakota voters for approval in the next general election. The amendment tightens the language in the state constitution's voting eligibility section to emphasize citizenship as a requirement, while keeping other existing qualifications like age (18+) and residency intact.

Authorize the recall of county commissioners.

This bill creates a new process allowing voters to recall county commissioners from office for reasons such as misconduct, corruption, incompetence, or crimes. To trigger a recall election, voters must gather signatures from either 15% of registered voters in the commissioner's district (or 5% of countywide voters if the commissioner represents the whole county) within a 60-day period, and must specify the grounds for removal on the petition. This new authority gives South Dakota voters a mechanism to remove county commissioners before their term ends, something that was not previously available.

Modify provisions pertaining to the submission of a nominating petition.

This bill changes the deadline for candidates to submit nominating petitions to appear on South Dakota primary election ballots, moving it from the last Tuesday of March to the last third Tuesday of March at 5 p.m. local time. The bill also clarifies that petitions mailed by registered mail by the last Tuesday of March at 5 p.m. will still be considered on time, and reorganizes which office locations receive petitions for different types of candidates (county auditors for county races, and a state office for legislative and judicial races).

Establish election day as a legal holiday.

South Dakota would add Election Day—the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years—to its list of official state legal holidays. This means workers in South Dakota would be entitled to the same holiday protections and benefits on Election Day as they receive for holidays like Independence Day and Thanksgiving.

Designate contact information provided on a voter registration form as not for public inspection.

HB 1073 allows voters to keep their phone numbers and email addresses private by designating them as not available for public inspection on voter registration forms, similar to existing protections for Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers. The bill clarifies that county auditors must safeguard this optional contact information and restricts its use to election purposes only.

Provide permissible dates for municipal and school district elections.

South Dakota municipalities and school districts can now hold elections on one of two dates—the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June or the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November—instead of the previous fixed April date, giving local governments more scheduling flexibility. The bill also allows municipalities and school districts to combine their elections on the same day if both governing bodies approve, streamlining the voting process. Several outdated election date provisions have been removed from state law to reflect these new permissible dates.

Provide for the recall of a member of a board of a school district.

South Dakota voters can now recall school board members by submitting a petition signed by at least 15% of registered voters in their school district, but only for specific reasons like crimes in office, corruption, gross incompetency, or misconduct. The school district's business manager must present valid petitions to the board at their next regular meeting, and signatures must have been collected within 60 days of filing. This creates a new mechanism for removing school board members that didn't previously exist in state law.

Require the inclusion of certain information on a candidate's nominating petition or on a ballot question petition.

South Dakota voters signing initiative petitions, referendum petitions, or ballot measure petitions must now provide their name, signature, current voter registration address, county of registration, and the date they signed. The Secretary of State will only count signatures that include all this required information and will make petition materials publicly available upon request.

Amend the requirements for a paper ballot.

HB1104 updates South Dakota's ballot printing standards by specifying exact paper quality requirements—including weight, opacity, brightness, and thickness—that official ballots must meet. The bill also clarifies that sample ballots must be printed on yellow paper with timing marks removed and the word "sample" displayed at the top, and it modernizes the language used throughout the ballot requirements section without changing the core rules about how candidate names are arranged on ballots.

Amend provisions pertaining to the verification of registered voters contained in the master registration file.

HB1220 allows family members to report a registered voter's death to the county auditor by submitting an affidavit, which triggers immediate removal of that voter from the registration file. The bill also reorganizes the rules for when county auditors send address verification notices to inactive voters, clarifying that these notices must be sent if a voter hasn't voted, updated their information, or responded to a confirmation mailing within four years.

Allow an applicant to have an interpreter present during the driving portion of a driver license exam.

South Dakota driver's license applicants who are not native English speakers can now bring their own interpreter during both the written test and the driving test portions of the exam, though they must pay for the interpreter themselves. While driving test instructions will still be given in English, the interpreter can be present to help translate during that portion. This expands current law, which only allowed interpreters for the written knowledge test.

Proposing and submitting to the voters at the next general election an amendment to the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, limiting to a flat rate the real property taxes.

This joint resolution asks South Dakota voters to amend the state constitution to allow real property taxes to be set at a flat rate instead of requiring them to be uniform across all properties in the same class. If approved by voters, this change would give the legislature flexibility to impose a single flat tax rate on real property rather than the current system where all properties of the same class must be taxed at the same percentage of their value.