A look into the 2024 South Dakota General Election
From now until the election on Nov. 5, Tea Weekly will take a look at the different measures on the ballot. A sample ballot was published in last week’s Tea Weekly. This week we take a look at Amendment G and Amendment H. The following stories were produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org.
Constitutional Amendment G would legalize abortion in South Dakota
By STU WHITNEY
South Dakota News Watch
If passed, Amendment G would enshrine the right to abortion in the South Dakota Constitution and supersede a 2005 state trigger law that took effect when Roe vs. Wade was overturned.
Current state law makes it a Class 6 felony for anyone “who administers to any pregnant female or prescribes or procures for any pregnant female” a means for an abortion, except to save the life of the mother.
This amendment prevents the state from regulating abortion during the first trimester (1 to 13 weeks). During the second trimester (14 to 26 weeks), the state could regulate “the abortion decision and its effectuation only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman.” After the end of the second trimester, abortion could be regulated or prohibited except to preserve “the life or health” of the mother.
Republican state Rep. Jon Hansen, who is vice president of South Dakota Right to Life and co-chair of the Sioux Falls-based Life Defense Fund, has criticized the wording of the proposed amendment, saying it’s “far more extreme than Roe v. Wade itself.”
Rick Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health, and others have pushed back on that statement by saying the amendment uses the same trimester framework as Roe, the landmark 1973 ruling in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus.
“The proposed amendment is very closely aligned with the original Roe v. Wade framework,” Hannah Haksgaard, a professor at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, told News Watch. “The language mimics the trimester framework of Roe v. Wade and nothing in this amendment indicates any abortion rights more extreme than that.”
Life Defense Fund filed a lawsuit contending that Dakotans for Health violated state laws with improper petition circulation. A trial is scheduled for Minnehaha County in late September.
Even though Amendment G is already on the Nov. 5 ballot, Life Defense Fund has claimed that the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office could make a public announcement that “no votes for or against the measure will be counted or have any impact.”
Constitutional Amendment H would allow open primary elections
By STU WHITNEY
South Dakota News Watch
Approval of Amendment H would establish “top-two” primaries for governor, Congress and state legislative and county races rather than having parties hold separate primary contests.
The theory is that open primaries, rather than incentivizing candidates from taking extreme positions to win a partisan primary, will help lower the volume to produce officeholders who are more reflective of the general electorate. This comes at a time when far-right factions such as the South Dakota Freedom Caucus have gained more traction within the Republican ranks.
Supporters point to the fact that all registered voters would be eligible to participate in open primaries. Currently, Independent voters in South Dakota can vote in Democratic primaries but not Republican contests.
That’s a major factor in a state where the breakdown of registered voters (308,344 Republicans; 152,187 Independents/No Party Affiliation; 143,973 Democrats) makes Independents a formidable voting bloc of 25%.
“The main argument for this amendment is fairness,” said South Dakota Open Primaries chairman Joe Kirby. “All voters should have an equal voice in electing their representatives and leaders.”
Both the Republican and Democratic state parties oppose the measure. South Dakota GOP chair John Wiik said the current system works well for the state, an opinion echoed by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds to News Watch.
South Dakota Democratic Party executive director Dan Ahlers said open primaries would be a “permanent, untested revision” to the state constitution and referenced California and Washington, the only other two states with top-two primaries for statewide elections.
“In those states, the minority parties are regularly locked out of elections and there is no evidence to suggest that the change has improved the quality of candidates or increased voter turnout,” Ahlers said.
Kirby countered that the “party bosses don’t like Amendment H because it would take political power back from them and return it to the voters where it belongs.”