Constitutional Amendment does not require honest representation of party on ballot. When everyone is a Republican… then no one will be.

I hadn’t picked this up until I was reading further on the topic today, but did you realize the proposed constitutional measure which proposes to inflict a “jungle primary” on South Dakota does not require candidates to accurately reflect their voter registration on the actual ballot?

I not only had to do a double-take, but I had to read it three times to make sure I wasn’t failing to pick it up.  According to the Attorney General’s final statement on the proposed constitutional amendment..

According to the Attorney General’s explanation “A candidate may list any party next to their name on the ballot regardless of party affiliation or registration.”  And if you go into the actual language of the measure itself, it contains this passage..

Literally, as hinted at by the AG’s statement, the very language of the measure is little more than a thinly veiled attack on all political parties in the state, because it takes away any meaning of the concept of a political party organization.

Libertarians? Forget third party status, because they’ll be gone. Democrats? They’re going to mean less than they do now. It will be great for Republicans, because in red-state South Dakota, literally everyone will run as a Republican. The big question will be how will people affiliate once they are elected, because if this passes, the designation on the ballot may have no relation to the political affiliation they claimed to run under.

I’m not sure why they feel they have to eliminate registering with a party to run as a party’s candidate. It’s not a high bar to affiliate with a political party currently. Just a trip to the courthouse.

I’m probably dating myself, as well as the age of many of my kids when I point out this reference, but I’m reminded of the evil plan of the villain in the Disney movie “The Incredibles.”  The original one, not the sequel. The villain’s evil plot to be foiled by the heroes was, in a nutshell, was to make superheroes widespread by selling his technology to render “real” superheroes common.

As the villain monologued in the movie “Everyone” can be super! And when everyone’s super… no one will be..”

That’s shockingly parallel to the exact thing this ballot measure proposes to do in red-state South Dakota. To make all candidates Republican.

Because when everyone is a Republican… then no one will be. 

12 thoughts on “Constitutional Amendment does not require honest representation of party on ballot. When everyone is a Republican… then no one will be.”

  1. You have to wonder if this is a drafting error because this is a bizarre provision.

    How can it be that a person that, for example, is a registered Republican is allowed to list himself as a Democrat? Or vice versa?

    Especially when it is easy enough to change one’s party registration at any time. If a candidate wants to run as a Republican, he need only register as a Republican.

    1. And I should add – this is a persistent problem with the ballot measure process. Drafting errors or weaknesses are identified only after the language is locked into place. It would be simple enough to amend this sentence to just say that the candidate’s party of registration shall appear alongside the candidate’s name, but it’s too late.

      There have been various proposals over the years to have a public hearing or some kind of public input before a ballot measure’s language is “locked.” These have been portrayed as attacks on the ballot measure process, but it really would be an improvement. It would give sponsors a more formal way to seek and consider feedback and strengthen their proposals.

  2. Democrats will get elected by running on the ballot as Republicans, then proceed to act as Democrats once they’re in Pierre. The liberals in the state are abusing the initiative process to get their agenda items passed through vote fraud. They need to be stopped by any means necessary.

    And don’t try to tell me that there isn’t any fraud. You don’t have to show an ID to vote or to pick up an absentee ballot for someone else. All you need to do is sign an ‘affadavit’ stating that you are who you say you are, or that you are picking up a ballot for someone else. Some guy just got busted for trying to vote twice, because he didn’t have ID when he went to vote early. And The election of Bonny Specker to the Brookings City Council is all you need to look at because she ‘won’ her seat on the basis of absentee ballots.

    1. Perhaps the real flaw is people dont know who they are voting for, they just vote for the party. Voters have become lazy, and encourage this type of exploitation of the system. Seriously, the two party system is a failure.

    2. All elections I lose are fixed. I cannot lose but for fraud.

      That’s what your post reads like. And then you say to do “whatever necessary” to prevent the made up stuff in your head. You’re not well.

  3. Another example of the “smartest people in every room they’ve ever entered” are just conceited idiots. In the words of Ogden Nash: Too clever is dumb.

  4. The left in SD reminds me of Boise State; really scrappy with a sophisticated organization of limited resources and assets.

    If you don’t come ready to play, you’re going to lose against them.

    1. i was thinking more like ‘the gang that couldn’t shoot straight’ but sure ok.

  5. So why is it that if democrats are so righteous and have the best ideas and are the only political party that cares for the citizens, they go to great lengths to hide their identity (and where they are located)?

    1. Pat Powers nailed it on this one. A person may list ANY party next to his name, regardless if it is an honest listing. Runs as a Republican, even though he is registered as a Democrat. Doesn’t even have to go re-register. Just LIE ON THE BALLOT.

      Who makes up this nonsense?

      Good thing someone was paying attention to the language of this sneaky little ballot measure.

      Voters beware……this measure is designed to lessen republican power in the state.

    1. When a dude like George Santos can win a congressional seat, that should be a red flag that the system is seriously flawed.

Comments are closed.