25.169.14 100th Legislative Session 23
2025 South Dakota Legislature
Senate Bill 23
Introduced by: The Chair of the Committee on Local Government at the request of the Secretary of State
Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes indicate deleted language.
An Act to require the secretary of state to publish the numbers pertaining to the 1
collection of signatures on a nominating petition. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 3
Section 1. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 12-6: 4
The secretary of state shall publish the number of required signatures for each 5
nominating petition listed in ยง 12-6-7 or 12-7-1, on the secretary of state's website no 6
later than January second in the year of an election. 7
Section 2. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 12-6: 8
Any individual registered as a voter, as provided for in chapter 12-4, may submit 9
an affidavit stating that the numbers published by the secretary of state pursuant to 10
section 1 of this Act, are inaccurate. The affidavit must include an itemized list of the 11
alleged inaccuracies. The affidavit must be submitted to the secretary of state no later 12
than January sixteenth in the year of the election by five p.m. central time. All challenges 13
by the same individual must be included in one affidavit. 14
The decision of the secretary of state regarding a challenge under this section may 15
not be challenged a second time with the secretary of state but may be appealed to the 16
circuit court in Hughes County. An appeal challenging the numbers published by the 17
secretary of state, pursuant to section 1 of this Act, takes precedence over any other case 18
in the circuit court. Any party appealing the circuit court order to the Supreme Court must 19
file a notice of appeal within ten days of the date of the notice of the entry of the circuit 20
court order. A challenge under this section is the sole legal remedy to challenge the 21
numbers published by the secretary of state. 22