On February 29, South Dakota officials said that a party that wants to be on the general election ballot for President and certain other state offices still needs 6,936 valid signatures after all, but the signatures aren’t due until July 11.

On February 26, they had seemed to say that a party that just wants to be on for President and certain other state offices does not need a petition at all. The February 26 Attorney General’s letter said, “If a new political party files a written declaration to organize pursuant to SDCL 12-5-1 by July 11, 2016, that party could nominate candidates at a state convention for the offices outlined in SDCL 12-5-21.” The semantic problem is that when they said, “written declaration”, they meant “petition.”