Petitioner placement is once again the subject of a legal battle – this time in Lawrence County. This comes just days after a judge across the state ruled in favor of a group attempting to gather signatures for several ballot measures.
Dakotans for Health, a state civic action organization, won an injunction in a recent legal dispute relating to petitioners at the Minnehaha County administrative building.
Now, in Lawrence County, the group said similar petitioning regulations at the administrative center in Deadwood are also stifling free speech protections.
James Leach is the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of the group. He said the two situations are similar, but unrelated.
“The Lawrence County policy was adopted back in March of 2020," Leach said. "In both cases, what’s common is a lack of appreciation for the values of the First Amendment and what the First Amendment protects.”
Under the current policy, Lawrence County petitioners are restricted to a courtyard between the administrative building and the courthouse.
Dakotans for Health is currently circulating petitions aiming to put abortion rights protections and a repeal of the state grocery tax to voters.
Leach said the suit concerns signature-gathering efforts, not these individual subjects.
“I mean, whatever people think of the underlying issues, what we’re fighting for is simply the right of people to vote on issues that concern them and that concern their government," Leach said. "We think these issues should be decided by people, not politicians.”
Looking to the recent past, Leach said don’t discount the utility of a petition.
"When you look at the last ten years in South Dakota, you’ve seen a whole bunch of petitions that led to new laws – including Medicaid expansion, including medical marijuana, including payday lending," Leach said. "It’s not just a theoretical issue where people should have the right to vote. When people get the right to vote in South Dakota, we actually enact different laws than the politicians enact.”
Representatives from Lawrence County were unable to be reached for comment.
