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Ballot Explained

South Dakota ballot measure · November 3, 2026

South Dakota Constitutional Amendment L, explained

60% vote required to amend the constitution. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.

The official wordingWhat appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
Title: An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution Requiring that a Proposed Constitutional Amendment or Revision Receive an Affirmative Vote of Sixty Percent of the Votes Cast. Attorney General Explanation: The State Constitution provides that any proposed constitutional amendment or revision must be submitted to the voters for approval. Currently, a proposed constitutional amendment or revision becomes part of the Constitution if approved by a majority of the votes cast. This proposed Constitutional Amendment increases the number of votes required for a proposed constitutional amendment or revision to become part of the Constitution. If passed, further constitutional amendments must receive an affirmative vote of sixty percent of the votes cast to be implemented. Vote "Yes" to adopt the amendment. Vote "No" to leave the Constitution as it is.

What it actually means

Today a constitutional amendment in South Dakota passes with more than half the votes cast on it, whether the Legislature referred it or citizens petitioned it onto the ballot. This amendment would raise that bar to 60% for every future amendment. It would not change the threshold for ordinary initiated laws or referred statutes, which stay at a simple majority. Amendment L itself needs only a simple majority to pass.

Y

If you vote YES

  • Article XXIII, Section 3 would require "an affirmative vote of sixty percent of the votes cast on the question" for a constitutional amendment or revision to take effect.
  • The 60% bar would apply to amendments the Legislature refers and to citizen-initiated amendments alike, starting with measures after this election.
  • An amendment supported by between 50% and 60% of those voting on it would fail — meaning 41% of voters could block a change a clear majority wanted.
  • Initiated state statutes and referred laws would still pass on a simple majority, so campaigns would have a reason to use statutes rather than amendments — and statutes can be altered by the Legislature.
  • South Dakota would join Florida at 60%, above Colorado's 55% and below New Hampshire's two-thirds.
N

If you vote NO

  • Article XXIII, Section 3 keeps its current wording: an amendment "becomes a part of the Constitution only when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon."
  • Constitutional amendments continue to pass on a simple majority, as they have since statehood, and as the 2022 Medicaid expansion amendment (56%) and the 2024 work-requirement amendment (56%) did.
  • Citizen-initiated constitutional amendments remain the route campaigns use to put policy beyond the Legislature's reach for two years, which is why they are used.
  • South Dakota remains one of 38 states where a simple majority amends the constitution.
The numbers that matter
Threshold now
Simple majority of votes cast on the question

Article XXIII, Section 3, South Dakota Constitution

Threshold proposed
60% of votes cast on the question

Text of the amendment as certified by the Secretary of State

Previous attempts rejected by voters
Amendment X (2018), 54%-46%; Amendment C (2022), 67%-33%

Official South Dakota election canvasses

What each side says2 for, 3 against — quoted, not summarised

Why supporters say YES

  • "When we put new rights in our Constitution, we have to be really careful what we're doing. That's why things like an unrestricted right to an abortion, the end of political parties in South Dakota, marijuana whether recreational or medical, those are policy decisions."

    — State Rep. John Hughes (R)

  • "Our state Constitution provides a framework of governance, while laws passed by the Legislature or by voter initiative outline policy within the framework. A simple majority works well for ordinary laws, but a higher threshold is needed for changing our Constitution, which is meant to protect core rights. … With Amendment L, only changes with broad, strong support from South Dakotans become part of our framework of governance."

    — State Rep. John Hughes, Dale Bartscher (South Dakota Right to Life) and Nathan Sanderson (South Dakota Retailers), official "pro" statement in the Secretary of State's 2026 Ballot Question Pamphlet

Why opponents say NO

  • "Voters have already rejected this idea twice in recent years. In 2018, they defeated Amendment X, which proposed a 55% threshold. In 2022, they overwhelmingly rejected Amendment C … Amendment L goes even further by applying the 60% requirement to every future constitutional amendment. … If Amendment L passes, a small minority could block our state from holding politicians accountable."

    — Chase Jensen (Dakota Rural Action) and Ryan Rolfs (South Dakota Education Association), official "con" statement in the Secretary of State's 2026 Ballot Question Pamphlet

  • "There is no need for South Dakota, which created the American ballot initiative, to deviate from the norm in such an extreme manner."

    — Zebediah Johnson, lobbyist, Voter Defense Association of South Dakota

  • "With the unprecedented concentration of wealth in our society, in our politics today, we believe raising the threshold of votes wouldn't deter out of state money. It would only open the tap even further."

    — Chase Jensen, lobbyist, Dakota Rural Action

What's genuinely uncertain
  • Whether a higher threshold would in fact reduce out-of-state spending on South Dakota ballot campaigns, as supporters imply and opponents dispute, is not established either way.
  • How many past amendments would have failed under a 60% rule depends on which elections are counted; the 2022 Medicaid expansion amendment (56.21%) and the 2024 Medicaid work-requirement amendment (56.12%) both would have.
  • The amendment does not say whether it applies to measures already certified for a future ballot at the time it takes effect.
  • No fiscal note was printed for this measure, and no ballot question committee had registered on either side as of September 2026.

The bottom line

Whether changing South Dakota's constitution should need broad agreement or just more than half — a higher bar against amendments passed in a single charged election, at the price of letting 41% of voters block one a majority wants.

One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.

Sources (3)The numbers in the text above link here
  1. 12026 Ballot Question Pamphlet — South Dakota Secretary of State — sdsos.gov
  2. 2South Dakota Constitutional Amendment L, 60% Vote Requirement for Constitutional Amendments Measure (2026) — Ballotpedia — ballotpedia.org
  3. 3Theme of this year's South Dakota ballot issues: Let's make life tougher — South Dakota Searchlight — southdakotasearchlight.com

Checking it against the official text

The South Dakota Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.

Confirm this with the official source

Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at South Dakota Secretary of State.

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