A ballot question committee is asking federal courts to toss a pending law moving up the deadline to submit petition signatures.
It’s an issue that was decided by federal courts in 2023 — that South Dakota’s petition deadline could not be more than six months before an election.
That case, SD Voice V. Noem, was in response to a state law that moved the deadline an entire year before an election. The state lost and as a result lawmakers set a deadline of May to submit signatures.
In 2025, the new Republican majority moved it back to February.
Rick Weiland is chair of Dakotans for Health, which is challenging the law. His group unsuccessfully tried to place a trimester abortion rights framework into the state constitution. He said in a Republican controlled state, the citizen's right to initiate change is more important than ever.
"The Legislature’s move to roll back the petition filing deadline is a direct attempt to make it harder for everyday South Dakotans to propose changes to the laws that affect them,” said Weiland.
Backers of the law say a new deadline gives courts a chance to weigh in on a proposal before an election.
Jon Hansen is Speaker of the House, the prime sponsor of the bill getting challenged and co-chair of Life Defense Fund which fought Amendment G in November. He’s also the vice-president of South Dakota Right To Life — an influential anti-abortion group in the state.
He challenged Weiland’s abortion rights ballot question in the courts before the election. He said the law will give legal challenges a chance to play out before election day, not after.
“One of the key rationales behind setting the new deadline where it’s at is because — as we saw just last year there was a challenge to some petition signatures. I was involved in that. We couldn’t get it resolved before election time," Hansen said. "I just don’t think that’s in the best interest of the people to have that uncertainty over that measure being legally on their ballot or not.”
Hansen said the new deadline is somewhere in the middle of what other states have. According to Ballotpedia, South Dakota would join seven other states in moving its deadline up from late-spring and summer.
A hearing date has not been set.
Dakotans For Health is asking for one at the court’s earliest convenience. The law is set to go into effect on July 1.
