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Smoke Free Supporters Challenge Petition Certification  

Supporters of South Dakota's new smoke-free law are challenging a petition that could force the law to go to a statewide ballot in 2010. The South Dakota Tobacco Free Kids Network has filed the challenge arguing nearly 10,000 of the 25,000 signatures turned in by a group that opposes the recently-passed smoking ban are invalid. After reviewing nearly 1,000 pages of signatures, the group says many of them do not belong to registered voters and as many as 39 percent are not valid.

Jennifer Stalley, project director for the Network, personally signed the affidavit challenging the signatures and says her group believes that 9,891 of the 25,400 signatures submitted to the secretary of state are invalid. The network believes the petition also contains problems with the way some of the signatures were gathered.

"We have respected the rights of the opponents to partake in this process, and this is the next step in that process. We think it is only fair to ask the secretary of state to review the signatures in total, given the law's impact and the immediate need to have it go into effect to preserve the health of those folks who are working in an environment where smoking is currently allowed."

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