On Tuesday, March 25th, Governor Rhoden vetoed House Bill 1169, a deeply flawed bill that would have implemented a geographic distribution requirement of signatures on proposed amendments to the South Dakota Constitution. Read Governor Rhoden’s statement on the veto here.

Local news outlets covered the Voter Defense Association’s request of Governor Rhoden to veto legislation that would implement a geographic distribution requirement of signatures on proposed amendments to the South Dakota Constitution (House Bill 1169).

South Dakota Searchlight covered the Voter Defense Association’s support of prohibiting the use of a deepfake to influence an election (Senate Bill 164).

KOTA covered the coalition of South Dakota organizations fighting to defend the ballot initiative process from political attacks.

The VDA was successful in drawing attention to HJR 5003 (an attempt to impose a 60% majority requirement on the passage of constitutional amendments) and its hearing in the SD House State Affairs Committee, where the VDA opposed the bill.

A recap of the Secretary of State’s Press Release regarding the four initiatives that submitted signatures for review.

Senator Schoenbeck appeared as a guest on the Scouting Report podcast on March 8, 2024. During his interview, Schoenbeck credited VDA-SD President Matthew Schweich’s arguments against signature withdrawal with shifting his opinion on the policy.

The VDA was successful in drawing attention to HB 1244 and its hearing in the SD Senate State Affairs Committee, where the VDA opposed the bill alongside a coalition of allies.

The VDA was successful in drawing attention to HB 1244 and its hearing in the SD House State Affairs Committee, where the VDA was the only organization to testify in opposition to the bill.