South Dakota 2018 ballot measures

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Six ballot measures were certified to appear on the ballot in South Dakota in 2018. One measure was on the ballot for the election on June 5, 2018 and was approved. The other five were on the ballot for the election on November 6, 2018. Three were defeated and two were approved. One of the approved measures was later overturned by a court ruling.

HIGHLIGHTS

Two measures were designed to alter laws governing the initiative process: Initiated Measure 24, was designed to ban out-of-state contributions to ballot question committees, and Amendment Z established a single-subject rule for constitutional amendments, whether citizen-initiated or legislatively referred, in South Dakota.

Measure 24 was overturned by a court ruling in May 2019 and blocked from enforcement.

Marsy's Law: Amendment Y, the Changes to Marsy's Law Crime Victim Rights Amendment, was approved in June.

On the ballot

See also: 2018 ballot measures

June 5, 2018:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Constitutional Amendment Y	Law enforcement	Changes 2016 Marsy's Law crime victim rights amendment	a

November 6, 2018:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
CISS	Initiated Measure 24	Direct Democracy	Bans out-of-state contributions to ballot question committees	a/ot
CISS	Initiated Measure 25	Taxes and Tobacco	Increases the tobacco tax	d
CICA	Constitutional Amendment W	Elections and campaigns	Revises campaign finance and lobbying laws, creates an accountability board, and prohibits legislative changes to initiatives without voter approval	d
LRCA	Constitutional Amendment X	Direct demcracy	55 percent supermajority requirement for constitutional amendments	d
LRCA	Constitutional Amendment Z	Direct democracy	Single-subject rule for constitutional amendments	a

Getting measures on the ballot

Citizens of South Dakota may initiate legislation as either a state statute or a constitutional amendment. In South Dakota, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The South Dakota State Legislature may also place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments or legislatively referred state statutes with a majority vote of each chamber.

The 2017 legislative session ran from January 10, 2017, to March 27, 2017, during which time the South Dakota State Legislature was able to place legislative referrals on the ballot. The 2018 session ran from January 9, 2018, through March 26, 2018. The three legislative referrals put on the ballot for 2018 elections were referred during the 2018 session.

In order to place an initiative on the ballot in 2018, enough valid signatures needed to be submitted by November 6, 2017. At least 13,871 signatures were required to place an initiated state statute or a veto referendum on the ballot. At least 27,741 signatures were required to refer an initiated constitutional amendment to the ballot.

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in South Dakota and List of South Dakota ballot measures

A total of 69 measures appeared on statewide ballots from 1996 through 2016 in South Dakota.

• From 1996 through 2016, an average of six measures have appeared on the ballot during even-numbered election years in South Dakota.
• The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots from 1996 through 2016 ranged from two to 11.
• From 1996 through 2016, about 41 percent (28 of 69) of statewide ballots were approved by voters, and about 59 percent (41 of 69) were defeated. One measure was approved by voters but subsequently overturned by the courts, and one 2016 measure was approved but then repealed by the state legislature.
• In 2016, there were nine citizen-initiated measures on the ballot in South Dakota—more than since 2006. There were also more citizen-initiated measures nation-wide in 2016 than since 2006.

Summary of campaign contributions

See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2018

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees had amassed in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

November 6:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
	$0.00	$0.00
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment Z	$0.00	$0.00	a
South Dakota Initiated Measure 25	$1,080,476.52	$6,452,182.81	d
South Dakota Initiated Measure 24	$53,794.73	$0.00	a/ot
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment W	$1,140,330.67	$230,816.11	d

June 5:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment Y (June)	$450,000.00	$0.00	a

Cost per required signature

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2018

The cost-per-required signature (CPRS) is a comparison of the amount of money spent on the petition drive to the number of signatures the state requires for an initiative to make the ballot. The following chart illustrates the CPRS for ballot initiatives.

A total of $312,508.5 was spent on the three successful initiative petition drives. The effort for Initiated Measure 24 and Initiated Measure 25 was combined. A total of between $35,000 and $40,000 was spent on those efforts combined according to the sponsor.

Ballot Measure:	Topic:	Petition company	Cost	Signatures	CPRS
South Dakota Initiated Measure 25	Taxes	individuals	$18,750.00	13,871	$1.35
South Dakota Initiated Measure 24	Direct democracy measures	individuals	$18,750.00	13,871	$1.35
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment W	Elections and campaigns	unknown recipients	$275,008.50	27,741	$9.91
Averages:	N/A	N/A	$104,170	N/A	$4.20

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

The list below contains measures that were proposed and reached a certain stage in the initiative or referral process, but did not make the ballot.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Supermajority Vote to Refer or Approve Constitutional Changes Amendment	Supermajority	Requires a 2/3 legislative vote to refer amendments and 60 percent voter approval to pass them
CISS	Medical Aid in Dying Initiative	Assisted Death	Allows patients diagnosed with a terminal disease to secure lethal medication
CISS	Marijuana Legalization Initiative	Marijuana	Legalizes the possession and use of specific quantities of marijuana
CISS	Marijuana Legalization and Changes to Laws Initiative	Marijuana	Legalizes the possession and use of all quantities of marijuana
CICA	Legislative Changes to the Initiative and Referendum Process Initiative	Direct Democracy	Requires two-thirds vote of legislature to amend or repeal initiative and makes other changes
CISS	Same-Sex School Facilities Initiative	LGBT	Requires that students use bathrooms and locker rooms designated for their biological sex or that they be provided with other accommodations
CICA	Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative	Elections	Requires a top-two primary elections for U.S. senators, U.S. representatives, state legislators, and governor
CICA	Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative	Redistricting	Creates a 9-member citizen redistricting commission
CISS	Vote by Mail Initiative	Elections	Allows counties to conduct elections by mail
CISS	Medical Marijuana Initiative	Marijuana	Legalizes medical marijuana
LRCA	South Dakota Militia Gender and Age Specifications Removal Amendment, SJR 2 (2018)	Militias	Removes gender and age specifications from state militia provisions
LRCA	South Dakota Legislator Salaries Set to One-Fifth of Median Household Income Amendment, HJR 1001 (2018)	Salaries of gov. officials	Sets legislator salaries for regular sessions to one-fifth of state median household income
CISS	Initiated Measure 26	Healthcare	Requires the state to purchase drugs at prices no higher than what the VA pays

State profile

Demographic data for South Dakota
	South Dakota	U.S.
Total population:	857,919	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	75,811	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	85%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.6%	12.6%
Asian:	1.2%	5.1%
Native American:	8.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.6%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$50,957	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15.3%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in South Dakota. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in South Dakota

South Dakota voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in South Dakota, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. South Dakota had four Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 2.21 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More South Dakota coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in South Dakota
• United States congressional delegations from South Dakota
• Public policy in South Dakota
• Endorsers in South Dakota
• South Dakota fact checks
• More...

See also

• 2018 ballot measures
• List of South Dakota ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota
• South Dakota Legislature

External links

• South Dakota Secretary of State website