The Legislature passed nine new laws this year that weaken our right to vote on laws and constitutional amendments. We will have two chances in November to further weaken our initiative rights by voting for Amendment X, which would increase the vote required to pass a constitutional amendment from simple majority to 55%, and Amendment Z, which would restrict initiated amendments to a single subject.
The merits of raising the vote threshold are up for debate, but a federal judge Tuesday at least assured us that such a higher threshold is constitutional. Judge William J. Martinez left intact the 55% vote threshold for constitutional amendments that Colorado voters approved in 2016. Judge Martinez’s affirmation of the 55% threshold comes alongside his final rejection of Colorado’s attempt to impose a geographical quota on initiative petition signatures. Judge Martinez stayed that geographical quota in February just before the South Dakota Legislature killed a similar unconstitutional proposal here; Tuesday, the judge said the state’s responses to his stay were unsatisfactory, and he put the permanent kabosh on the geographical petition quota.
By the way, Judge Martinez’s final ruling notes that Colorado allows initiative sponsors to submit their petitions until August 6 this year, just three months before the general election, then gives the Secretary of State one month to review and certify those petitions. South Dakota initiators must submit their petitions twelve months before the election, and the Secretary of State has no legal deadline for reviewing them, meaning the Secretary can leave initiative campaigns in limbo for months.
South Dakota really knows how to take the wind out of direct democracy.