LWV of Southeast South Dakota

From January – August 2023, state legislatures nationwide passed various bills into law. While following these developments, the League noticed several important trends around voting rights and election administration.

In a victory for South Dakotans, a law that places a 30-day residency requirement for ballot initiative petition circulators has been permanently enjoined by a federal court.

This story was originally published by Public News Service.

Amy Scott-Stoltz, a spokesperson for the South Dakota League of Women Voters, said this broader approach is counterproductive.

"We just want to make sure that people know that that is a less accurate way to count the votes and it also is a very time-consuming way, so results would be even later in getting out," Scott-Stoltz said.

This article was originally published in DakotaNewsnow.com

Back in 2015, there was a concern about hired employees brought to the state and paid to collect petition signatures. Back then, anyone over 18 with an ‘intent’ to live in the state could collect signatures.

The League of Women Voters of South Dakota and the League of Women Voters of the United States filed a federal lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 180.

Dakota citizens and members of Congress gathered at Fort Yates, on the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, for a field hearing of the Committee on House Administration, Subcommittee on Elections.