VDA Testimony to SD House State Affairs Committee Hearing on Jan 17 in Opposition to HJR 5003

On January 17, I testified (in person) before the SD House State Affairs Committee in Pierre and delivered the following statement in opposition to HJR 5003:

“Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.

My name is Zebadiah Johnson from Sioux Falls, SD. I’m here on behalf of the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota, and I am testifying in opposition to HJR 5003C.

Our mission at the VDA 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.

The VDA opposes HJR 5003C for three reasons.

First, requiring a 60% supermajority to amend the Constitution would radically restrict the constitutional ballot initiative rights of South Dakota voters. This resolution would establish the joint highest threshold for passage of an initiated amendment in the entire country. Of the 24 states with a ballot initiative process, nearly all of them require a simple majority of 50% for passage. There is no need for South Dakota, which created the American ballot initiative, to deviate from the norm in such an extreme manner.

Second, any supermajority requirement would severely restrict the ability of this legislature to successfully propose amendments to the South Dakota Constitution. This resolution applies to both legislatively-referred and citizen-initiated amendments. For example, the 2018 single subject amendment, proposed by the legislature and ultimately approved by voters, would have failed to reach a 60% supermajority. And, Amendment F, which was just discussed earlier in this hearing, would have also failed to reach 60%.

Third, it is clear that South Dakotans do not support increasing the threshold for passing constitutional amendments. In 2018, Amendment X, which proposed a 55% supermajority requirement, failed with only 46% of the vote. In 2022, Amendment C, which proposed a 60% supermajority requirement for any ballot question creating a tax or fee or requiring the state to appropriate $10 million or more in any of the first five fiscal years after enactment, failed with only 33% of the vote. The people of South Dakota have repeatedly expressed their support for simple majority rule on constitutional amendments.

HJR 5003 is an attack on the viability of citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in South Dakota and an unjustified attempt to take power away from the people. Therefore, we urge you to oppose this resolution. Thank you for hearing my testimony today.”

[END]