Federal Court Blocks South Dakota’s Attack on Citizen Ballot Measures

A federal judge struck down a South Dakota law Tuesday that would have made it harder for citizens to put issues on the ballot, ruling the law was unconstitutional and a violation of free speech.

The law was passed after South Dakotans used the ballot measure process to pass popular policies opposed by GOP lawmakers, like Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization.

House Bill 1184 (HB 1184), passed earlier this year by the GOP-controlled legislature, moved the deadline for filing ballot initiatives from May to February — essentially forcing campaigns to collect and submit thousands of voter signatures in the middle of winter, nine months before an election.

U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler, appointed by former President Joe Biden, permanently blocked the law.

“The nine-month deadline created by HB 1184 is unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment,” Theeler wrote. “Because the filing deadline violates the First Amendment, it cannot be enforced.”

The state claimed it needed the earlier deadline to give courts more time to handle challenges to petition signatures. But Theeler rejected that argument, finding that even with a February deadline, lawsuits “may or may not result in a final resolution before an election.” 

Theeler highlighted that forcing campaigns to stop collecting signatures so early meant voters would have fewer opportunities to debate and engage on issues that matter to them.

“The State acknowledges that this type of petition circulation is core political speech protected by the First Amendment,” she added. “The public interest is served by protecting First Amendment rights.”

Dakotans for Health, the grassroots organization that brought the lawsuit, argued that the earlier deadline was designed to silence citizen-led efforts that GOP lawmakers oppose.

This ruling comes amid a broader national trend in which Republicans in states like Arkansas, Florida and Missouri have tried to make it harder for citizens to pass ballot initiatives. Some GOP-backed laws have tightened signature requirements, while others have added new administrative hurdles or raised the threshold by which a ballot measure must pass.