Protect the people’s power!
We are the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota
Our top priority is protecting the constitutional ballot initiative rights of South Dakota voters. Right now, those rights are under attack!
Take Action!
Contact your SD state legislators and respectfully urge them to respect Governor Rhoden's decision to veto HB 1169!
HB 1169 would have severely restricted the ballot initiative process in South Dakota. As things stand, the bill will not take effect.
However, this Monday (March 31), the SD Legislature might try to override the veto of HB 1169 – it would require a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.
Not sure which legislative district you're in? Visit sdvoters.com to quickly look it up.
Need contact info for your state legislators? Visit vdasd.org/legislator (most SD voters have a total of three state legislators – two in the House and one in the Senate).
Have questions? Text our VDA Staffer, Rachel: (605) 389-3437
“Simply put, this bill is designed to institute tyranny of the minority. With this bill, a single district will have veto power over the entire state. Petition sponsors could collect the required statewide total and the required district total in 34 of 35 senatorial districts and an initiated amendment would be barred from the ballot. As an example, if a signature drive failed to gather the 454 required signatures from District 23 but collected 40,000 signatures statewide, that petition would fail to qualify for the ballot. HB 1169 is a blatant attempt to strip South Dakotans of their constitutional ballot initiative rights and arrogate even more power to the legislature.”
Read on our report on HB 1169!
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About the VDA
The Voter Defense Association of South Dakota is a nonpartisan political organization established in 2023. Our mission is to defend the ballot initiative rights of South Dakota voters and ensure that laws and regulations governing electoral processes in South Dakota are reasonable, fair, and transparent.