2-1-10. Verification of petition circulator--Violation.

Before filing a petition to initiate an amendment to the Constitution, for an initiated measure, or for a referred law, with the officer in whose office the petition is required to be filed, each petition circulator shall sign a verification attesting that:

(1)    The circulator personally circulated the petition;

(2)    The circulator is not attesting to any signature obtained by any other person;

(3)    The circulator is a resident of South Dakota;

(4)    The circulator made reasonable inquiry and, to the best of the circulator's knowledge, each person signing the petition is a qualified voter of the state in the county indicated on the signature line; and

(5)    No state statute regarding the circulation of petitions was knowingly violated.

The State Board of Elections shall prescribe the form for the verification. The circulator's signature on the verification shall be witnessed and notarized by a notary public commissioned in South Dakota or other officer authorized to administer oaths pursuant to § 18-3-1. Any person who falsely attests to the verification provision provided in subdivision (1) is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Any person who falsely attests to the verification provisions provided in subdivisions (2) to (5), inclusive, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Source: SDC 1939, § 55.0405; SL 1957, ch 278, § 4; SL 1974, ch 22; SL 1976, ch 105, § 79; SL 1989, ch 23, § 4; SL 2000, ch 19, § 1; SL 2007, ch 15, § 1; SL 2010, ch 74, § 1; SL 2018, ch 22, § 8; SL 2023, ch 9, § 1.