Jump to full article: Mitchell (SD) Daily Republic, 2009-07-03
Author: Bob Mercer, Republic Capitol Bureau
Intro: Opponents of South Dakota’s new state law banning smoking in bars, casinos and restaurants that serve alcohol might not get the chance to put the issue to a statewide vote after all.
That’s because the leader of South Dakota’s anti-tobacco movement filed a lasthour challenge to their referendum petitions Thursday.
The referendum petitions had prevented the ban from taking effect July 1 at the same time as most other new South Dakota laws passed by the Legislature last session.
If the petitions survive the challenge, a statewide vote would be held as part of the November 2010 general election.
But if Jennifer Stalley of the American Cancer Society is right, there won’t be a vote at all and the ban would kick in when the legal dust settles.
Stalley delivered a thick binder to the office of Secretary of State Chris Nelson, whose staff oversees election compliance, challenging the petitions at about 4 p.m. Thursday. . . .
Stalley is challenging the signatures rather than the sampling method. Nelson wasn’t at the office when Stalley’s challenge documents arrived with just an hour to spare. Bray said the next step is to begin looking at each one of the 9,891 challenges. That work will begin Monday. “We will have to go line by line,” Bray said. If enough of the challenged signatures are found to be invalid, Bray said Nelson then would consult with state Attorney General Larry Long regarding how to proceed.
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