Judge blocks South Dakota law that moved deadline on ballot measures

Dakotans for Health challenged law that created a nine-month deadline to submit petitions before elections

A new law that moved the deadline for initiated measures or amendments to qualify for the ballot in South Dakota violated the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge has ruled.

State lawmakers moved the deadline for filing ballot measure petitions from the first Tuesday in May to the first Tuesday in February in election years with passage of House Bill 1184. Underpinning that decision was a desire among Republican lawmakers to have more time for opponents to challenge the validity of signatures, and to give people more time to withdraw their signatures from a ballot measure.