FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Press Office
Dakotans for Health
605-610-8146
HB 1244 Aims to Create Process for Signature Withdrawal For Petition Signers
“Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”
February 20, 2024
Sioux Falls, SD... Rick Weiland, whose Dakotans for Health organization is sponsor of the constitutional amendment which would restore reproductive freedom in South Dakota, today pointed out that Right to Life Vice President Jon Hansen's HB 1244 would create a Signature Withdrawal provision under which a single person withdrawing his or her signature could invalidate a petition containing 35,017 valid signatures, and that even petitions containing tens of thousands more signatures than required by law could be invalidated by just a few hundred withdrawal requests.
“This is just another transparent attempt by a powerful right to life politician to keep restoration of reproductive rights off the 2024 ballot. First, he tried to convince people to decline to sign. Now, having spectacularly failed to intimidate the 50,000 (and counting) people who have signed our petition to restore reproductive rights, he has crafted a bill which will enable him to keep our petition off the ballot if he can intimidate just a couple of hundred people into withdrawing their names,” Weiland said.*
“Every group or citizen considering using the citizen initiative process our state invented over 100 years ago needs to clearly understand that HB 1244 will open anyone who signs their petition to harassment and their effort to get on the ballot to failure,” Weiland added. “Republicans, Democrats and independents, liberals and conservatives, organizations of every kind and citizens need to unite against this sneak attack by Pierre politicians seeking to deny us the right to decide and opening us to harassment if we so much as dare to sign a petition,” he said.
Noting that the Florida Supreme Court struck down a signature withdrawal scheme like the one Hansen proposes for South Dakota on grounds it would lead to signer intimidation, and that active intimidation by both conservative and liberal groups has been reported or is now underway in the handful of states that permit withdrawal, Weiland said Dakotans for Health will work with every group threatened by this HB 1244 “voter intimidation law.”
“Why are Jon Hansen and his right to life politicians so afraid of letting the people decide,” Weiland wondered. “Could it be that they know that simple restoration of the reproductive rights women had before the politicians and judges took them away is what South Dakota wants,” he asked.
*Under the validation procedures set forth in SD law, ARSD 5:02:08:00.05, the Secretary of State randomly selects names from a petition for a citizen-initiated law or amendment to determine by statistical sample whether the petition contains enough signatures. If the petition is for a proposed constitutional amendment, and 35,017 valid signatures are submitted, one withdrawal would disqualify the entire petition. If 36,000 valid signatures are submitted, 20 withdrawals would disqualify the entire petition. If 40,000 valid signatures are submitted, 90 withdrawals would disqualify the entire petition.
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About Dakotans for Health:
Dakotans for Health is an advocacy group committed to promoting public health policies and initiatives that empower South Dakota residents. By championing the Freedom Amendment, Dakotans for Health seeks to ensure that every individual has the right to make personal decisions about their own bodies and futures.
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