On March 6, South Dakota Supervisor of Elections Kea Warne ruled that any adult may circulate a petition to qualify a new party in South Dakota. In 2007, the legislature had passed a bill saying only South Dakota residents may circulate a petition for initiatives and only South Dakota residents may circulate a petition to place a candidate on a ballot. However, the new party petition is a separate animal, since it doesn’t name any particular candidate and is for the purpose of recognizing the party.
This ruling will help the Libertarian Party, which has been struggling with its petition in that state. The deadline is March 25. The petition requires 8,389 valid signatures. On March 6, Daniel Imperato made a donation of $2,000 toward the costs of the South Dakota Libertarian petition drive.
Banning people who regularly live in other states from collecting petition signatures is completely absurd and should be ruled unconstitutional. A person does not give up their 1st amendment rights when they cross into a different state. The REAL intention of such bans is to make ballot access more difficult, which means less choices for the regular people and more power for the establishment politicians.
That is exactly what Ralph Nader’s attorneys will be arguing to the 9th circuit, on April 15, 2008, in Nader’s 2004 case against Arizona Secretary of State.