Voters in South Dakota rejected the proposal a proposal to add abortion rights protections to the state constitution, maintaining a near-total ban there.
The abortion measure was among a crowded field of ballot initiatives for Tuesday’s general election, which also included a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use. After most votes were counted on Wednesday, the marijuana measure was defeated. Voters also rejected a measure to eliminate the state food tax, as well as a plan for a single primary for all candidates, with the top two candidates for each office advancing.
Here’s a look at the biggest ballot initiatives.
The vote on abortion in South Dakota followed Florida’s rejection of a proposed change to the state constitution to protect abortion rights — the first time abortion opponents have won a statewide vote since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, where Roe vs. Wade was destroyed in June 2022.
The measure in South Dakota would have excluded restrictions on terminating a pregnancy during the first 12 weeks.
From the 13th to the 26th week of pregnancy, the government regulations had to be “reasonably related” to the patient’s physical health. Even after the 26th week, the state should have allowed abortions to preserve a patient’s life or health.
The ban in place since the Dobbs decision makes it a crime to perform an abortion except to save the patient’s life.
South Dakota voters rejected a measure that would have legalized the use of recreational marijuana, continuing the battle over efforts to allow use of the drug.
Voters rejected the measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana for people 21 and older and placed limits on the amount they could possess. The proposal would also have allowed the cultivation of marijuana.
Voters have repeatedly expressed their opinions on marijuana over the past eight years. They finally allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 2020, but again rejected the recreational use of the drug after rejecting such a proposal in 2022.
South Dakota, flush with cash, cut its sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2% last year, but voters rejected a proposal to eliminate the food tax altogether.
The Legislature’s research staff estimated the state would lose about $124 million in annual revenue, or 5% of its $2.4 billion in general tax revenue.
But critics of the measure suggested it was so poorly written that it could go further than intended and even apply to tobacco products. They argued that the loss of revenue would prompt the state to make up for it by introducing an income tax, and this was opposed by a coalition of businesses and other interest groups.
Supporters said they were trying to get people a discount on food costs. The measure would have banned a state tax on “anything sold for human consumption,” excluding alcoholic beverages and prepared foods, such as restaurant meals.
Voters rejected a proposal to approve a so-called jungle election after leaders of both major parties criticized it. Those critics argued that the smaller Libertarian and No Labels parties are unlikely to ever appear on the ballot.
In South Dakota, Democrats allowed voters without political affiliation to participate in their June primaries, but Republicans did not. The election initiative would have amended the state constitution to end partisan primaries by allowing all candidates for office to run at the same time, with the top two advancing.
Supporters of the change argue that it would make elections more reflective of voters’ wishes and allow 155,000 voters without any party affiliation to vote for their favorite candidates in a primary.
In a state where the Republican Party controls nearly 90% of the seats in the legislature, it is likely that in many places all the candidates for the general election would have been Republicans. Meanwhile, a broader electorate could have helped more moderate Republican candidates at the expense of the more conservative candidates favored by party leaders.
South Dakota voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that would allow state officials to impose work requirements on people who receive Medicaid.
