VDA Testimony to SD House State Affairs Committee Hearing on March 3 in Support of SB 91B

On March 3, I testified before the SD House State Affairs Committee in Pierre and delivered the following statement in support of Senate Bill 91B:

“Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the Committee. Thanks for having me back today.

My name is Zebadiah Johnson, I’m from Sioux Falls, SD, and I’m here on behalf of the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota. We rise in support of SB 91.

It's a sound policy for South Dakota’s initiative process. The bill increases consistency within types of petitions and aligns petition content with what voters see when casting their ballot on an issue after it has qualified.

As the prime sponsor noted, under the current statutory system each petition can largely look different from every other petition. Some can be printed on 8.5x11 standard sheets of paper, while others are much larger “booklets,” so that would be like an 11x22 with four separate sides, and some petitions in the past have been even longer. This inconsistency in petition design, while workable, is not especially beneficial for signers, administrators, or initiative campaigns themselves.

Further, this bill establishes requirements that petitions include the title on both sides – and that’s a simple policy change that will allow voters to easily ascertain what they are actually signing.

And then finally, we think that, you know, ballots include the Attorney General’s explanation and fiscal note so voters can make an informed decision and that same amount and type of information should be useful for signing the petition as well.

We’d also like to note that the full text is moved to the circulator handout for this, so you’re not losing any of the information that is currently in statute, it is just being rearranged to make the petition design itself slightly more workable.

So we’re hopeful that this bill will create a system where single-sheet, easily identifiable petition pages that include the exact same information that voters use to vote as they use to sign the petition. We think it will increase consistency and transparency within the initiative process, and that is beneficial for all parties involved.

We ask for your support on this bill. Thank you.”

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