South Dakota 2024 ballot measures

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In 2024, seven statewide ballot measures were on the ballot in South Dakota for the election on November 5.

On the ballot

Type	Title	Description	Result	Yes Votes	No Votes
LRCA	Constitutional Amendment E	Amend the constitution to change male pronouns in the Constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles		180,365 (43%)	242,866 (57%)
LRCA	Constitutional Amendment F	Amend the South Dakota Constitution to provide that the state "may impose a work requirement on any person ... who has not been diagnosed as being physically or mentally disabled" for eligible individuals to receive Medicaid under the Medicaid expansion that took effect on July 1, 2023	a	236,410 (56%)	184,829 (44%)
CICA	Constitutional Amendment G	Provide for a state constitutional right to abortion with a trimester framework for regulations		176,809 (41%)	250,136 (59%)
CICA	Constitutional Amendment H	Establish top-two primaries for federal, state, and certain local offices in South Dakota		141,570 (34%)	270,048 (66%)
CISS	Initiated Measure 28	Prohibit state sales taxes on anything sold for human consumption, not including alcoholic beverages or prepared food		129,261 (31%)	290,969 (69%)
CISS	Initiated Measure 29	Legalize the recreational or personal use of marijuana		189,916 (44%)	237,228 (56%)
VR	Referred Law 21	Uphold Senate Bill 201, which would provide requirements for regulating carbon dioxide pipelines and other transmission facilities, and allow counties to impose a surcharge on certain pipeline companies		165,682 (41%)	242,459 (59%)

Getting measures on the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota and Signature requirements for ballot measures in South Dakota

Citizens of South Dakota may initiate legislation as either a state statute or a constitutional amendment. In South Dakota, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. The South Dakota State Legislature may also place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments or legislatively referred state statutes with a majority vote of each chamber.

In South Dakota, signature requirements are tied to the number of votes cast for the office of governor in the state's most recent gubernatorial election. For statutes or veto referendums, valid signatures equal to 5 percent of this vote are required. For constitutional amendments, signatures equal to 10 percent are required. For 2022, a total of 33,921 signatures are required for initiated constitutional amendments and 16,961 signatures are required for initiated statutes and veto referendums.

In South Dakota, proponents may circulate constitutional amendment petitions for up to one year. Proponents are allowed to begin collecting signatures up to two years prior to the election at which the measure will appear on the ballot. Signatures must be filed at least one year prior to the election. On August 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota Northern Division ruled that, for measures amending or adding a state law, the signature deadline is the first Tuesday in May of an election year. For referendum petitions, the completed signature petitions must be submitted within 90 days after the legislative session in which the targeted law was approved adjourns.

Referral of 2024 constitutional amendments

The following table illustrates the vote requirements for the constitutional amendments certified for the ballot, the votes the amendment received, and how Democrats and Republicans voted on the amendment in each legislative chamber:

South Dakota Medicaid Work Requirement Amendment				Democrats	Republicans
Senate:	Required: 18	Yes votes: 28 (82.4%)	No votes: 4 (11.8%)	Yes: 0; No: 4	Yes: 28; No: 0
House:	Required: 36	Yes votes: 63 (90%)	No votes: 7 (10%)	Yes: 0; No: 7	Yes: 63; No: 0
South Dakota Gender-Neutral Constitutional Language Amendment				Democrats	Republicans
Senate:	Required: 18	Yes votes: 35 (100%)	No votes: 0 (0%)	Yes: 4; No: 0	Yes: 31; No: 0
House:	Required: 36	Yes votes: 58 (82.8%)	No votes: 12 (17.1%)	Yes: 7; No: 0	Yes: 51; No: 12

Historical facts

See also: List of South Dakota ballot measures and History of Initiative & Referendum in South Dakota

In South Dakota, a total of 115 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2022. Fifty-one ballot measures were approved, and 64 ballot measures were defeated.

South Dakota statewide ballot measures, 1985-2022
Total number	Annual average	Annual minimum	Annual maximum	Approved		Defeated
				#	%	#	%
115	2.93	0	11	50	43.48	65	56.52

Ballot initiative certification rates

See also: Ballot initiatives filed for the 2024 ballot

The following table shows the rate of certification for ballot initiatives in South Dakota between 2010 and 2020:

South Dakota statewide ballot initiatives filed and certified, 2010-2020
Year	Ballot initiatives filed	Certified
		#	%
2020	5	2	40.0
2018	20	3	15.0
2016	10	9	90.0
2014	2	2	100.0
2012	5	3	60.0
2010	5	2	40.0
Averages	7.8	3.5	57.5

Not on the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Status
LRCA	Lieutenant Governor and Presiding Officers of the Senate and House of Representatives Amendment	State executive official measures	Allows the members of the senate to elect a president of the senate, as well as allowing the members of the house of representatives to elect a speaker of the house
CICA	Prohibit Taxes on Anything Sold for Human Consumption Amendment	Taxes	Prohibit taxes on anything sold for human consumption
CICA	Prohibit Legislature From Amending or Repealing Ballot Measures for Seven Years Amendment	Direct democracy measures	Prohibit the state legislature from amending or repealing a ballot measure that has been approved by voters for at least seven years
CICA	State Legislature Term Limits Amendment	Term limits	Change the term limits of the South Dakota State Legislature to eight total years in the State House of Representatives and eight total years in the State Senate, or a maximum total of 16 years
VR	Repeal Medical Marijuana Initiative	Marijuana	Repeal the medical marijuana program approved by voters in 2020

See also

• 2024 ballot measures
• List of South Dakota ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in South Dakota
• South Dakota Legislature

External links

• South Dakota Secretary of State website