PIERRE — One South Dakota lawmaker wants to make it easier for people who have signed a ballot initiative petition to be able to take their signatures off the paperwork.
Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, spoke about HB1244 in committee Wednesday, where it gained the approval of lawmakers, 11-1. The bill stems from incidents during the summer when petition circulators may have spread misleading information about ballot initiatives that got people to sign the petitions.
Hansen added the bill would also allow people who signed the petition twice to have their signatures removed.
He said currently that “it’s practically impossible” for someone to get their signature removed from a ballot petition, saying the person would have to chase down the petition circulator and scratch off their name. But his bill would set up a process, overseen by a court, to strike the names of those who wanted them removed.
The person would have to submit their name to the Secretary of State’s Office for withdrawal. Then, “if there’s a challenge to the validity of the signatures, which is a process that we have already set up in the law then the secretary of state’s only obligation is to give the withdraws to the parties.”