On February 17, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in SD Voice and Cory Heidelberger v Noem, 21-3195. It strikes down the South Dakota petition deadline for initiatives, which is one year before the election. The decision is by Judge L. Steven Grasz (a Trump appointee), and is also signed by Judge James B. Loken (a Bush Sr. appointee) and Judge Raymond Gruender (a Bush Jr. appointee). Here is the 16-page opinion.

The opinion is probably the most significant lawsuit win for the initiative process since the First Circuit decision last year that struck down Maine’s residency requirement for initiative circulators. There had never before been any federal court decision that held the petition deadline for an initiative can be too early.

The plaintiff is a Democrat who is active in placing initiatives on the ballot. He will probably next work on an initiative to repeal the sales tax on groceries.

The decision notes that South Dakota uses random sampling to check the validity of initiatives, and in the past has been able to validate an initiative petition in only two days, using random sampling. Of course, even in states that use random sampling, there are times when the random result is so close that the state must then check all the signatures. Thanks to Robbin Stewart for this news.