South Dakota Corporate Language Amendment, Constitutional Amendment M (2012)

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Constitutional Amendment M
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Typelegislatively referred constitutional amendment
OriginSouth Dakota Legislature
TopicConstitutional language
StatusDefeatedd

Constitutional Amendment M, also known as the South Dakota Corporate Language Amendment, was on the November 6, 2012 ballot in the state of South Dakota as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was defeated. According to reports, the measure would have modernized language dealing with corporations. The measure was passed to the ballot by the end of 2012 state legislative session.[1]

Election results

See also: 2012 ballot measure election results

The following are official election results:

South Dakota Amendment M
ResultVotesPercentage
Defeatedd No228,72070.4%
Yes 96,187 29.6%

Official results via South Dakota Secretary of State.

Text of measure

The official ballot text read as follows:[2]

Title: An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution regarding certain provisions relating to corporations.

Explanation: The Constitution currently contains certain restrictions on the Legislature’s authority to enact laws regarding corporations. For example, corporate directors must be elected by cumulative voting, in which a shareholder may choose to cast all votes for a single candidate or spread the votes among two or more candidates. Corporate stock or bonds may only be issued for money, labor or property received by the corporation. Corporate stock or debt may not be increased without prior notice to and consent of current stockholders.
Constitutional Amendment M removes these restrictions, and allows the Legislature to: (1) authorize alternative methods of voting in elections for corporate directors; (2) expand the types of contributions a corporation may receive for the issuance of stock or bonds; and (3) establish procedures governing the increase of corporate stock or debt.

A vote “Yes” will remove the constitutional restrictions.

A vote “No” will leave the Constitution as it is.

Support

No formal support was identified.

Opposition

No formal opposition was identified.

Path to the ballot

Section 1 of Article XXIII of the South Dakota Constitution says that the South Dakota State Legislature can refer a proposed amendment to the state's voters through a majority vote.

The state legislature ended session sending the measure to the ballot, reports said.[1]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mitchell Republic, "Legislature places balanced-budget constitutional amendment on ballot," February 29, 2012 (dead link)
  2. ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Constitutional Amendment M," accessed August 28, 2012
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