Judge rules petition drive gathered enough valid signatures
Jump to full article: Sioux Falls (SD) Argus-Leader, 2009-11-14
Author: Peter Harriman
Intro: Opponents of the state's smoking ban secured enough good signatures in a petition drive to put the issue before voters next November, Circuit Judge Kathleen Trandahl ruled Friday.
After hearing testimony in a two-day trial, Trandahl found that opponents of the ban collected 2,244 more signatures than they needed to force a public vote. She granted the opponents' request to order Secretary of State Chris Nelson to place the smoking ban on the November 2010 ballot.
Now proponents of the ban, including the American Cancer Society and the state, are weighing a decision to appeal.
The Legislature in March passed a nearly comprehensive ban on smoking in public places, and Gov. Mike Rounds signed it into law. It was supposed to have gone into effect in July, but implementation has been delayed as opponents mounted a referendum petition drive. The American Cancer Society challenged the validity of about 10,000 of the signatures, and the matter went to court, where Trandahl heard it this week in Pierre.
Trandahl noted that the secretary of state must decide whether to count signatures based on strict compliance with laws and regulations, but the courts have the discretion to decide when those who have gathered petition signatures have complied substantially with the laws and rules.
In her ruling from the bench Friday, Trandahl said that petitioners had gathered 19,020 valid signatures, 2,244 more than were required to meet the referendum threshold.
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