PIERRE – Registered voters would decide which candidates for the state’s constitutional offices appear on General Election ballots rather than political parties, under a proposal that cleared a Senate committee on Monday.

Senate Bill 40 establishes primary elections as the method for selecting Republican and Democratic candidates for those offices. Currently, candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands and public utilities commissioner are selected by delegates to political party conventions.

Sen. David Johnson’s legislation would allow a candidate for governor to select a running mate as lieutenant governor – the same way presidential candidates select their vice-presidential running mates.

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