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South Dakota Codified Laws

S.D. Codified Laws § 2-1-3 (2026)

Referendum--Laws subject to petition--Form.

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2-1-3. Referendum--Laws subject to petition--Form.

Any law which the Legislature may have enacted, except one that may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, shall, upon the filing of a petition as provided in this chapter, be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state at the next general election. The petition shall be signed by not less than five percent of the qualified electors of the state. The form of the petition, including petition size and petition font size, shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections.

Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0402; SL 1957, ch 278, § 2; SL 1976, ch 105, § 77; SL 2018, ch 75, § 4.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2021 · leading case: Wyatt v. Kundert, 375 N.W.2d 186 (S.D. 1985).
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Wyatt v. Kundert, 375 N.W.2d 186 (S.D. 1985). · cites it 9× “To constitute a valid referral of a legislative enactment, the following requirements must be met: (1) The law must be a proper subject of a referral, SDCL 2-1-3; (2) the referendum petition must be in the proper form, see ARSD §§ 2-1-3, 2-1-7, 2-1-8, 2-1-9, 2-1-10, ARSD…”
SDDS, Inc. v. State, 481 N.W.2d 270 (S.D. 1992). · cites it 10× “Opponents of the Lonetree project began circulating referendum petitions (pursuant to SDCL 2-1-3 et seq.) seeking to refer SB 169 to a vote of the people.”
Nist v. Herseth, 270 N.W.2d 565 (S.D. 1978). · cites it 9× “The number of signatures required on a petition to refer a question to the people in the 1978 general election is, according to SDCL 2-1-3, five percent of the votes cast in the last preceding gubernatorial election, or 13,912 signatures.”
SDDS, Inc. v. State, 502 N.W.2d 852 (S.D. 1993). · cites it 2× “III, § 1; SDCL 2-1-3. The effective date of an approved referred measure is "the day after the completion of the official canvass by the state canvassing board.”
Bjornson v. City of Aberdeen, 296 N.W.2d 896 (S.D. 1980). · cites it 2× “) The general referendum statute, SDCL 2-1-3, provides that the referendum "petition shall be signed by not less than five percent of the qualified electors of the state," but with respect to the municipal referendum, SDCL 9-20-8 requires that the petition "be signed by at least…”
Libertarian Party v. Krebs, 312 F.R.D. 523 (D.S.D. 2016). “SDCL 2-1-3. If the petition is successful, the legislation will not go into effect unless a majority of voters approve.”
SDDS, Inc. v. South Dakota, 843 F. Supp. 546 (D.S.D. 1994). “The constitutionality of the Initiated Measure under the equal protection clause has already been decided by Judge Zinter in SDDS III.”
Anderson v. City of Tea, 2006 S.D. 112, 725 N.W.2d 595. “SDCL 2-1-3, 2-1-10, 9-20-9, 12-1-3(8), and 12-1-9.”
Dakotans for Health v. Barnett, 959 N.W.2d 602 (S.D. 2021). · cites it 4× “) SDCL 2-1-3 provides that: Any law which the Legislature may have enacted, except one that may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, shall, upon the filing of…”
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