FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to authorize certain political parties to be classified under alternative political status and to declare an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
    Section 1. That chapter 12-1 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

    For the purposes of this title, the term, alternative political status, means that a political party meets the requirements of this section commencing with the 2014 general election and each general or special statewide election thereafter. Any political party that meets the definition of political party as defined in § 12-1-3 and has a total party registration of less than two and a half percent of the total number of registered voters, as recorded at the Office of the Secretary of State on the date of the last general election, shall remain in alternative political status for the next two general election cycles. Any party that has a total party registration of two and a half per cent or more of the total number of registered voters, as recorded at the Office of the Secretary of State on the date of the last general election, shall lose its alternative political status, but shall remain a political party for the next two general election cycles.
    Section 2. That § 12-6-7 be amended to read:

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    12-6-7. A nominating petition may be composed of several sheets, each sheet shall have identical headings printed at the top and shall be a self-contained sheet of paper. The petition for party office or political public office shall be signed by not less than one percent of the voters who voted for that party's gubernatorial candidate at the last gubernatorial election in the county, part of the county, district, or state electing a candidate to fill the office. If the party meets the requirement for alternative political status as defined in section 1 of this Act, the petition for party office or political public office shall be signed by not less than one percent of the voters who voted for that party's statewide candidate receiving the highest votes at the last gubernatorial election in the county, part of the county, district, or state electing a candidate to fill the office. If a county uses vote centers and does not print ballots by precinct, signature requirements for both partisan and independent candidates are:

            (1)    Fifty signatures for a legislative candidate whose district either in whole or in part includes that county;

            (2)    Thirty signatures for a county candidate;

            (3)    Fifteen signatures for county commissioner district candidates;

            (4)    Five signatures for a new party legislative candidate whose district either in whole or in part includes that county;

            (5)    Five signatures for a new party county candidate; or

            (6)    Three signatures for a new party county commissioner district candidate.
    Section 3. That chapter 12-5 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

    A political party with alternative political status may nominate a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, and any legislative seat by convention, if the nomination is submitted with the proper documentation to the Office of the Secretary of State no later than 5:00 p.m. central time on the second Tuesday in August, of the

year of the election.

    A candidate registered with a political party with an alternative political status may choose, if allowed by the party bylaws, to participate in a primary election by submitting a candidate petition no later than the last Tuesday of March in accordance with § 12-5-1.4.
    Section 4. That chapter 12-5 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

    A political party that did not have a candidate for Governor in 2014 may nominate a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, and any legislative seat by convention, provided that the nomination is submitted with the proper documentation to the Office of the Secretary of State no later than 5:00 p.m. central time August 1, 2018.
    Section 5. Section 4 of this Act is repealed on January 1, 2019.
    Section 6. That chapter 12-5 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

    A new political party may nominate a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, and any legislative seat by convention, if the nomination is submitted with the proper documentation to the Office of the Secretary of State no later than 5:00 p.m. central time on the second Tuesday in August, of the year of the election.
    Section 7. That § 12-5-1.5 be amended to read:
    12-5-1.5. If a new political party organizing does not have a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, or Legislature, that who is nominated at a primary election, the new political party may be organized by filing with the secretary of state not later than July first at five p.m. central time, a written declaration signed by at least two and one-half one percent of the voters of the state as shown by the total vote cast for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. The declaration shall contain:

            (1)    The name of the proposed party; and

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            (2)    A brief statement of the principles of the proposed party.
The new political party shall, under the party name chosen, have all the rights of a political party whose ticket was on the ballot at the preceding general election. No signature on a declaration is valid if the declaration was signed more than one year prior to filing of the declaration.

    A political party loses the right to participate in the primary election for failure to meet the definition of political party as defined in § 12-1-3.

    The national and state chairperson of a recognized political party may request in writing, subscribed and sworn to by each chairperson before any officer qualified to administer oaths and take acknowledgments, to no longer be recognized as a political party. The political party shall also comply with the requirements for dissolution pursuant to chapter 12-27.
    Section 8. Whereas, this Act is necessary for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.