1.   The declaration of candidacy at the top of the petition form must be completed prior to circulation for signatures (SDCL 12-6-8).  It may not be signed prior to January 1, 2008.  The name will appear on the ballot in the exact form indicated in the declaration of candidacy (SDCL 12-16-1).

2.  Petitions may not be circulated before January 1, 2008.  Party nominating petitions may be filed no earlier than January 1, 2008 and no later than March 25, 2008.  Nominating petitions for independent candidates for all offices except president may be filed no earlier than January 1 and no later than June 3, 2008.  Petitions which are mailed by REGISTERED MAIL prior to 5:00 p.m. on the last day to file will be considered timely filed.  Certified mail received after the deadline will NOT be considered timely filed.

3.   Signatures of registered voters must be obtained between the date of the candidate's signed declaration of candidacy and the date of the circulator's verification.

4.  A petition circulator is a person of at least eighteen years of age and a resident of the state of South Dakota.

5.   The petition circulator must personally witness each signature on the petition being circulated.  The petition's verification must be completed following circulation and must include the circulator's printed name, residence address, city, state, complete date and be signed under oath before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths.  The candidate may not serve as the notary public.

6.   Each petition signer must be a registered voter in the state of South Dakota in the jurisdiction for which the petition is circulated (SDCL 12-6-8).

7.   All petition signers for political party candidates must be registered voters of that party.

8.   Signers must sign their names as they are  registered to vote or as they usually sign their names.

9.   The signer's printed name must also appear.

10.   Each signature line must show a complete residence address.  This can be street and house number or rural route and box number in addition to the city or town.  Zip codes are optional.

If the signer is a resident of a second or third class municipality, a post office box number may be used in lieu of a street address. Second and third class municipalities are those with less than 5000 population.  They would include all municipalities except the following which are first class municipalities:

Aberdeen, Brandon, Brookings, Huron, Madison, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Sturgis, Vermillion, Watertown and Yankton.

If the signer does not have a residence address or post office box number, a description of the residence location must be provided. 

11.  Each signature line must show the month and day it was signed.

12.  Numbers to designate the month are permissible.  Abbreviations commonly used are also acceptable.

13.  The county of the signer's voter registration must be included. 

14.  The date, address, county of registration, and printed name may be added by the circulator prior to the petition being filed.  Ditto marks may not be used.

15.  A voter may sign as many petitions for a particular office as there are positions to be filled (SDCL 12-6-8).

16.  If photocopies are made of the originally signed petition sheet for circulation, the original petition sheet must be submitted with the photocopied sheets.

17.  Each petition sheet must be a self-contained sheet with the heading, declaration of candidacy, instructions to signers, signature lines and circulator's verification on a single sheet.

18.  Petitions for legislative, judicial, water development district, state and federal offices are filed with the Secretary of State.

19.  Petitions for county offices are filed with the appropriate county auditor.

It is prudent to submit any petition to the filing authority with ample time prior to the deadline to allow you to collect additional signatures if there are not sufficient valid signatures presented on your initial petition.

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Updated 12/21/07

For additional information or petition forms, call Kea Warne, election supervisor, Secretary of State's office, 605-773-3537.