Federal court rules SD ballot measure law curbs free speech

By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a federal judge’s decision to block parts of a South Dakota law that would have required ballot petition workers to publicly disclose their personal information. The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2020 passed a law that would have required paid ballot measure circulators to list their personal information in a directory. The law was just one attempt by lawmakers in recent years to add barriers to ballot measures. Circuit Judge Steven Grasz wrote in an opinion for a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that being forced to disclose the information would be “chilling in today’s world” and the law would violate the First Amendment.