Secretary of State Monae Johnson is apparently ignoring her duty to inform the public about proposed ballot measures.
Attorney General Marty Jackley made the first official announcement of the raw-milk deregulation initiative that Brenda Anderson has proposed on July 24, more than two months after Anderson submitted her first draft of that proposal to the Legislative Research Council.
The Secretary of State’s office has long published proposed initiatives on its website. An initiative usually appears on the Secretary’s Potential Ballot Questions webpage once the Legislative Research Council has reviewed the sponsor’s first draft and responded with its comments. The SOS then usually updates the webpage to show each initiative’s status: final language submitted, Attorney General’s draft and final title and explanation, fiscal note from LRC, Secretary of State’s single-subject certification, final petition, circulator handouts, etc.
But so far, three months after Anderson’s initiative reached the Capitol, Secretary of State Monae Johnson does not appear to have published any information about this possible 2028 ballot measure. I can’t find a 2028 Ballot Measures webpage. Secretary Johnson hasn’t even updated the general Ballot Question Information page to offer guidance on petitioning for the 2028 cycle, even though that cycle began on May 7, the first day that citizens could submit draft initiatives to the LRC for review.
Voters have a right to know what measures are being proposed for its consideration on petitions and election ballots. Voters should have as much time as possible to review the changes that their neighbors want to make to South Dakota’s laws or Constitution. Interested citizens should get the earliest heads-up possible so they can mobilize to help the sponsors and participate in the petition drive or to voice their opposition and start warning the public about what they view as a bad ballot measure. And citizens who may be considering proposing initiatives of their own should be able to turn to the SOS website for updated information on a complicated process that has already begun.
But Secretary Johnson has left the public completely uninformed about the raw-milk deregulation initiative and the process for getting measures on the 2028 ballot. Who knows how many other 2028 initiatives may have already been submitted to the LRC and the Attorney General that Secretary Johnson is ignoring?
Monae Johnson is losing her job at the end of the year, but that’s no reason for her to sit around not doing her job for her last several months in Pierre. Get back on the stick, Secretary Johnson—publish a 2028 ballot question page and guidance!
With a Libertarian in the SDSOS race Terrence Davis is likely a shoo-in.