Constitutional Amendment LConstitutional amendment · Put on the ballot by lawmakers
Sixty percent amendment rule
Explain it like I'm 5
Changing the Constitution currently needs more than half of the votes. This would require at least 60 out of 100 voters to agree, like needing six friends instead of five to change the biggest rulebook.
Yes vote
Future constitutional amendments and revisions would need approval from 60 percent of voters voting on the question.
No vote
Constitutional amendments would continue to need a simple majority of votes cast on the question.
The question to ask yourself
Should constitutional changes require broad consensus or continue passing with a simple majority?
The case for
- Requires broader agreement before changing the state's basic rules.
- May reduce narrowly approved or frequent constitutional changes.
- Encourages policy decisions to be made through ordinary laws when possible.
Backed by: South Dakota Family Voice Action, South Dakota Right to Life, South Dakota Retailers Association, Save Our South Dakota Constitution
The case against
- Allows 41 percent of voters to block a proposed change.
- Makes citizen-initiated constitutional amendments harder to pass.
- Could preserve constitutional rules that a majority wants to change.
Opposed by: L No, Voter Defense Association of South Dakota, The Fairness Project, Dakota Rural Action, South Dakota Education Association
- Money
- No direct cost or tax effect was identified.
- Don't be misled
- It would not apply only to citizen initiatives, and it would not apply to the other amendments on this same ballot; it concerns future constitutional amendments and revisions.