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Senate approves statute requiring U.S. citizenship to vote, moves penalties
Summary
Senate Bill 68, amending state law to require U.S. citizenship before eligibility to vote and reorganizing election-related penalties, passed 32-3 after adoption of Amendment 68D that adjusted penalty placement.
The Senate on Jan. 30 approved Senate Bill 68, which requires that an individual be a citizen of the United States before being eligible to vote in South Dakota, and adopted an amendment that reorganized the statutory placement of election penalties.
Senator Carley moved Amendment 68D during floor debate; the amendment relocates penalty language from section 1231 to sections referenced in the bill (including section 1226) and standardizes penalties to the lowest class of felony identified as enforceable in the context discussed during the hearing. "This amendment cleans up some of the varying penalties regarding elections," Carley said on the floor, adding the change followed recommendations from the attorney general's office and other senators.
Carley described the bill and the amendment as safeguards worked out with input from the secretary of state and other counsel. She told senators the secretary of state removed more than 273 registered noncitizens from voter rolls last October and said the measure, together with a companion constitutional amendment, would codify the citizenship requirement and add visible notice on driver92s licenses.
The Senate adopted Amendment 68D by voice vote and then passed the bill on a roll-call vote, 32 ayes to 3 nays. The measure returns to enrollment for transmission to the governor after the title was deemed correct on the floor.
The floor debate referenced penalties and statutory sections by number but did not include a detailed, line-by-line review of all affected code sections on the chamber floor. Carley characterized the change as aligning penalties to the lowest enforceable felony class and said federal election crimes remain felonies.
