South Dakota Senate sustains governor—s veto of bill changing petition signature rules

Pierre, S.D. — The South Dakota Senate on the floor on March 28 failed to override Governor Larry Rhoden—s veto of House Bill 1169, a measure that would have required petition signatures to come from multiple senatorial districts to qualify a proposed constitutional amendment for the ballot.

Senator Pischke, the bill—s floor sponsor, asked senators to overturn the veto and argued the bill would ensure "support comes from all across South Dakota, not just in our largest cities." He told the chamber the measure was intended to protect rural participation and to guard against well-funded, concentrated campaigns placing constitutional amendments on the ballot without broad statewide backing.

The bill would not have changed the constitution—s stated 10% threshold for initiating a constitutional…