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LOCAL ACTION

Petitions for County Ordinance

This idea of  TAKING THE USE OF COMPUTERIZED VOTING MACHINES TO A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE  is based on the provisions of:

SDCL, CHAPTER 7-18A ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS.

Please read the chapter!

 

This is a county initiative ordinance. Any citizen can present an initiative ordinance. The template is attached and you will need to obviously update to reflect your county.

 

You will need to collect signatures from five percent of the registered voters in the county, based upon the total number of registered voters (active plus inactive) at the last preceding general election (Nov 2022). You can find that number on the Secretary of State website here:

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https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/StatewideVotersbyCounty20221101.pdf

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https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/upcoming-elections/voter-registration-totals/voter-registration-by-county.aspx

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The number of signatures needed is also listed below the map on this page.

 

Once you are ready, you will turn your petitions into your auditor.

The signatures are verified and the auditor must inform the commissioners at the next scheduled county meeting. It has to go through two readings.

If petitions were turned in before a 90 day window preceding a primary or general election, then a special election will be scheduled.

If the petitions were turned in within that 90 day window, the election will occur at the already scheduled primary or general election.

This is covered in Chapter 7.

 

General INFO:

  • You cannot sign your own petition.

  • It must be duplex printed (front and back)..."self contained" no paper clips or staples or anything like that.

  • Make sure the area for the notary doesn't get cut off in printing.

  • Make sure the signer is a registered voter in your county and they have lived in South Dakota for at least 30 days.

  • They MUST sign their name, but you are allowed to print it and fill out address, date and county. This helps with being able to read their name during the verification process.

  • Do not leave petitions unattended.

  • Once your petition is full, you will need to get it notarized.

  • Recommend you collect more than what you need. Your signatures will be heavily scrutinized.

  • We have had the most luck just going door to door.

  • We strongly suggest you lobby your county commission for a hand counted election on the removal of ES&S machines from your county.  

THANK YOU and GODSPEED

Looking for your County Coordinator?

Send us an email letting us know what town and county you live in.  We will connect you to your local coordinator.

petitionssd@proton.me

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