Also breaking initiative law: Marty Jackley!
Attorney General Marty Jackley’s Draft Ballot Explanations webpage says that his office received Brenda Anderson’s final language for her raw-milk deregulation initiative on May 14, 2026:
Among our election statutes, South Dakota Codified Law 12-13-25.1 requires the Attorney General to prepare a draft title and explanation for each citizen initiative submitted to his office and then file that draft with the Secretary of State, post the draft to the Attorney General’s website, and issue a press release inviting public comment on that draft title and explanation “within sixty days of receipt of the proposed measure….”
Sixty days from May 14 is July 13.
Attorney General Jackley released his draft explanation of Anderson’s initiative on July 24. That’s 71 days after May 14, the day he received the proposed initiative.
Brenda Anderson broke the law by submitting the first draft of her initiative to the Legislative Research Council six days too early. Marty Jackley broke the law by releasing his draft explanation of her initiative eleven days too late. Jackley’s crime is the far greater offense: Anderson’s premature submission not only harmed no one but gave her more time to consider the LRC’s suggestions, decide on her final language, and plan her campaign, while the Attorney General’s illegal foot-dragging delayed both Anderson’s preparation for her petition drive and voters’ opportunity to learn about this proposal and consider their own civic response.
I would nonetheless propose that we could let these dueling violations cancel each other out, with no penalty for either initiative sponsor Anderson or Attorney General Jackley.
But if the state or any other interested party wishes to press for strict application of the rules, then fire away: force Anderson back to square one to resubmit her initiative for the 15-working-day LRC review and the 60-calendar-day AG review, and put Marty Jackley in the hoosegow and give Nikki Gronli, Jackley’s Democratic opponent in our U.S. House election, free rein to campaign on Jackley’s lawbreaking: “Marty can’t even follow the law; how can we trust him to make law in Congress?”