Supporters of a “top two” primary election system in South Dakota have submitted petitions with 47,000 signatures to put their measure on the November ballot as a constitutional amendment.
They need 35,017 valid signatures to qualify and Secretary of State Monae Johnson has until August 13 to complete the validation process.
The proposed constitutional amendment replaces South Dakota’s current partisan primary with an open one for all voters and candidates that advances the top 2 vote getters to the general election ballot.
The Republican party is so dominant – Democrats haven’t won a statewide race since 2008 – that the winner of the Republican primary is often unopposed in the general election, denying voters who aren’t Republicans any input on who makes the ballot.
Under the new proposal, all candidates in gubernatorial, congressional, legislative and county races would compete against each other in one primary, and the top two vote-getters in each race or for each seat would advance to the general election.
Measure sponsor Deanna “De” Knudson, a registered Republican, says she doesn’t think the current system is fair because it “excludes about half of the voters from the real race, and we just really believe that this is a fairness issue.”
The South Dakota Republican Party vehemently opposes the measure. State Senator and state party Chairman John Wiik says he sees “no good coming out of it for the Republican Party.”
Wiik says he wants “Republicans to be able to choose the Republican candidate, and Democrats to choose the Democrat candidate,” adding that “if you want to be an independent, then you’re independent of the decisions that affect your lives.”
State Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers says the party hasn’t taken a stance on the measure. The Democratic Party currently allows voters with “no party affiliation” or are registered independent to vote in its primary.