Seth Tupper, Joshua Haiar and John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight
South Dakotans rejected a ballot question Tuesday that would have raised the threshold for voter approval of state constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%.
When The Associated Press called the race at 11:24 p.m. Central time, 58% of the votes were against Amendment L and 42% were in favor. About 64% of statewide votes had been counted.
The Republican-dominated Legislature sent Amendment L to the ballot. Sponsoring lawmakers said a higher threshold for voter approval of constitutional amendments would protect the constitution from policies that don’t belong in it, while preserving it for fundamental elements like the structure and function of government.
Opponents said Amendment L was an attempt by Republican lawmakers to block voters from approving policies such as Medicaid expansion, which voters put in the constitution four years ago, or abortion rights, which petitioners have unsuccessfully attempted to place in the constitution.
One of the Amendment L opponents was Chase Jensen, a senior organizer with the nonprofit Dakota Rural Action. He said “South Dakota spoke clearly.”
“We are not going to willingly give up our rights or diminish the value of our vote,” Jensen said.
South Dakota voters rejected similar attempts in past elections to raise the threshold for voter approval of ballot questions.
In 2018, voters defeated Constitutional Amendment X, which would have raised the threshold for constitutional amendments to 55%. Constitutional Amendment C failed in 2022. It would have required 60% voter support for ballot questions that increase taxes and fees, or require the state to spend $10 million or more in a measure’s first five years of implementation.
Reynold Nesiba, a Democratic former legislator from Sioux Falls who has worked on previous ballot questions, said Amendment L represented the Republican Party in South Dakota “whittling away at direct democracy” and engaging in “sour grapes” against approved amendments like Medicaid expansion.