Heidelberger only able to obtain a few thousand signatures. SDGOP: There’s a reason for that.

Pat Powers

After he failed to turn in signatures to the Secretary of State, Bernie Sanders Democrat Cory Heidelberger took to the internet to note that he could only collect a few thousand signatures out of the nearly 17,000 he needed:

In the 90 days allowed by law for circulating a referendum petition, I needed to collect 16,961 signatures.

I got a few thousand. Very few thousand.

One could argue that the political market has spoken: if voters aren’t sufficiently vexed to sign a petition, they aren’t sufficiently vexed to overturn the will of the Legislature.

I do not yet accept that argument.

Get some cheese to go with it, and prepare yourself for the whine here.

Heidelberger went on to complain that knowing who is circulating his petitions is somehow a burden, and somehow prevents him from collecting signatures. But, there’s another explanation out there as to why no one wanted to sign his ballot referral.

This morning, South Dakota Republican Party credits in part their efforts to encourage voters to “Don’t Signs on the Line” when it comes to petitions:

South Dakota Republican Party “Don’t Sign on the Line” effort prevents Democrat Socialist activist from halting ballot measure reform law.

The South Dakota Republican Party was delighted to hear today that a ballot referral effort on House Bill 1094 failed to obtain sufficient signatures to be placed on the ballot. South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman noted that it’s a positive sign that the party’s educational efforts encouraging people to know what they’re signing are working

Lederman said “Through a simple message of encouraging voters “Don’t Sign on the Line” until after they’ve examined all of the repercussions of the petitions they’re being asked to put their name to, South Dakota Republicans were a part of stopping Democrat Socialist Cory Heidelberger from preventing the implementation of House Bill 1094, an act to revise certain programs regarding transparency of the petition circulation process, and placing it on the ballot.”

Lederman noted that there’s a good reason that these professional petition hawkers want to stop new laws, and to rewrite voter protections passed in previous legislative sessions – it’s hard on the petition industry’s bottom line.

“For many years, South Dakota’s grassroots initiative and referendum process has been under siege from consultants and liberal interest groups who have made a very lucrative industry of putting measures on the ballot,” Lederman said.  “We’ve had to endure efforts as crazy as welfare for political campaigns and wanting to put judges in jail. And these have all been imported into South Dakota because we’re a state that’s both easy to put measures on the ballot, and media buys are relatively inexpensive.”

“As a party, we believe an informed voter is a good voter. And that no one should feel forced to sign any petition without fully understanding what they’re putting on the ballot. High-pressure sales should not be part of the initiative and referendum process,” Lederman said.

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From the South Dakota Republican Party’s website here.

Voter education on knowing what a person is signing helps cause petition being pushed by interests that want to bring in hired guns from out of state to fail? Could be.

And if that’s the case, sometimes the good guys win.

18 thoughts on “Heidelberger only able to obtain a few thousand signatures. SDGOP: There’s a reason for that.”

  1. Does this mean it will be very very difficult for the pot people to meet the new standards to get their pot on the ballot? They should really go thru the legislature?

    1. The pot people should get the hint.. it has failed 4 ones already here

      Brendan Johnson and Melissa mentele im talking to you

      It isEspecially abhorrent the Johnson wants to put it in the constitution

      2. You’re terrified of the thought of people getting a chance to vote on this, because you know that the prohibitionists are no longer the majority.

  2. I’m confused, Mr. Powers. Are you saying Heidelberger’s wrong that all the additional steps to register petition circulators’ identity with the government and hand out personal data to petition signers exist, or are you saying he’s wrong that they matter?

    As for the substance of it, why should I care who wants me to sign something? If it’s something I lije I sign it, if it’s something I don’t like I won’t. Why should I care who the person asking me to sign is, or whther they’re paid or not, or South Dakotan or not? They’re a stranger regardless and strangers are fungible.

    3. They’re strangers collecting names and addresses. It’s not unreasonable for the state to have an interest in making sure they meet some minimal standards. In the past, they’ve had some pretty sketchy people out there running petitions:

      Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom also testified in favor of the bill, saying letting sex offenders circulate petitions created a potential “safety issue.”

      “In allowing them to circulate petitions, we have created a unique venue where they can size up potential victims and engage them in conversation,” Thom said.

      Thom also said the petition process itself was threatened.

      “If information off a petition is abused and someone is victimized, I think that can cause hesitation by citizens to sign petitions in the future,” he said.

      and…

      Both measures were inspired by the case of a petition circulator in Rapid City, who is also a registered sex offender. Though many petitions have signatures collected by volunteers, some groups also hire people to collect signatures.

  3. Will the SDGOP be fully engaging on encouraging people not to sign the proposed Medicaid expansion, $15 minimum wage, and net neutrality measure if/when they get circulated?

        1. Because it’s never worked anywhere

          Plus if you’d like to be like Norway or Sweden a lot of those other Democrats socialist countries and pay over 50% of your income and taxes to let the government the most beautiful fish and administrator ever run the systems go right ahead

          1. So the only good thing that is Free not associated with Cory and the extreme left is the old DVD “Free Willy” my nephew used to enjoy?

  4. Is the failure to collect enough signatures due to informed voters not signing, or not enough offered the opportunity to sign it? If it is the later, then Lederman is misinforming voters.

  5. SDGOP should’ve taken their own advice when it came to Mickelson’s unconstitutional IM. But he is on your team so you looked the other way right?

  6. Cory failed once again….but I see he has started another IM

    Be vigilant

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