PIERRE, S.D. (Press Release) – Secretary of State Steve Barnett announced the petition submitted for an initiated measure on legalizing marijuana for medical use was validated and filed by his office. It will be titled Initiated Measure 26 and appear on the 2020 General Election ballot on Nov. 3, 2020.

An initiated measure currently requires 16,961 valid signatures in order to qualify for the ballot. “Per South Dakota Codified Law § 2-1-16, our office conducted a random sample of the petition signatures and found 74.65 percent to be valid,” stated Secretary Barnett. Based on the results of the random sample, 25,524 signatures were deemed valid.

Upon the filing of a ballot measure, any citizen may challenge the Secretary of State’s validation of that measure in accordance with South Dakota Codified Law § 2-1-17.1. Citizens challenging the validation must submit an original, signed affidavit to the Office of the Secretary of State within 30 days of validation. Electronic submissions of affidavits will not be accepted. For this measure, the deadline to file a challenge is Monday, Jan. 20, 2020 at 5 p.m. central time.

Ballot question petitions are reviewed by the Office of the Secretary of State in the order received. Petitions for one remaining ballot question were submitted by the Nov. 4, 2019 deadline and are under review by the office. The South Dakota Legislature has the ability to include constitutional amendments on the 2020 Ballot and South Dakota citizens have the ability to submit a referendum petition concerning laws passed during the 2020 Legislative Session.

Detailed information on specific 2020 Ballot Questions may be found on the Secretary of State’s website at https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/upcoming-elections/general-information/2020-ballot-questions.aspx.