How to Circulate a Petition for Water Development District Director - 2008

1.   The declaration of candidacy at the top of the petition form must be completed prior to circulation for signatures and signed before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer an oath (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.  Petitions may be filed no earlier than January 1 and no later than April 1, 2008.  Petitions which are mailed by registered or certified mail prior to 5:00 p.m. on the last day to file will be considered timely filed.  NOTE:  Filing deadline may change to March 25 due to pending legislation.

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 must be a resident of the state of South Dakota who is at least eighteen years of age. 

5.   The petition circulator must personally witness each signature on the petition being circulated and must verify under oath before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths that each signature was personally witnessed.

6.   Each petition signer must be a registered voter in the director area for which the petition is circulated (SDCL 12-6-8 and 46A-3B-4).  At least 25 signatures are required for nomination.

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

8.   The signer's printed name must also appear below the signature.

9.   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.

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

11.  Numbers to designate the month are permissible.  Abbreviations commonly used are also acceptable.  Ditto marks may not be used.

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

13.  The date, address, county of registration, and printed name may be added by the circulator prior to the petition being filed. 

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

15.  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.

16.  Petitions for water development district are filed with the Secretary of State, 500 E Capitol, Pierre, SD  57501.

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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For additional information or petition forms, contact your local water development district office.

Prepared by Secretary of State Chris Nelson, 500 E Capitol, Pierre, SD  57501.

Updated 12/21/07