Municipal Elections: Q & A
Refer to the 2018 Municipal Elections Handbook for additional information. The handbook can be found on the SDML website under the Library section then Elections.
How is a candidate for municipal office nominated?
For the second Tuesday in April election, no candidate for elective municipal office may be nominated unless a nominating petition is filed with the finance officer no later than five p.m. on the last Friday in February preceding the day of election. The petition shall be considered filed if it is mailed by registered mail by five p.m. by the petition deadline before the election. Such petition shall contain the name of the candidate, his residence, his mailing address and the office for which he is nominated and be on the form prescribed by the state board of elections. The signer’s post office box number may be given in lieu of a street address if the signer lives within a municipality of the second or third class. The finance officer may only accept nominating petitions that are on the prescribed form and were circulated and submitted pursuant to the provisions in chapters 9-13 and 12-6. If the nominating petition meets the statutory requirements, the filing of the petition shall constitute nomination (SDCL 9-13-7).
The statutes for combined election dates, regarding filing deadlines, can be found at SDCL 9-13-37, 9-13-40, 13-7-5 and 13-7-6. How many signatures are required on a nominating petition for a municipal election?
In municipalities of the first and second class, if the candidate is to be voted for by the voters at large, a nominating petition shall be signed by five percent of the registered voters of the municipality based on the number
of registered voters recorded by the county auditor on the second Tuesday in January of the year of the election. No petition needs to be signed by more than fifty voters. If the candidate is to be voted for by the voters of a ward or subdivision of a municipality of the first or second class having more than one ward or subdivision, a nominating petition shall be signed by five percent of the registered voters of the ward based on the number of registered voters recorded by the county auditor on the second Tuesday in January of the year of the election. No petition needs to be signed by more than fifty voters.
In municipalities of the third class, if the candidate is to be voted for by the voters at large, the nominating petition shall be signed by not less than three registered voters of the municipality. If the candidate is to be voted for by the voters of a ward of a municipality having more than one ward, the nominating petition shall be signed by not less than three registered voters of the ward. No nominating petition may be circulated until on or after the first day of circulation for that election (SDCL 9-13-9). All petition signers must be active registered voters in the municipality where the candidate is being nominated. All petition signers may only sign one petition for each office to be filled (SDCL 12-6-8), with the exception of a voter from a third class municipality is not restricted to the number of petitions which the person may sign (SDCL 913-9).
If a person signs more than one petition (except in a third class municipality) the first valid signature presented counts. 5:02:08:00.04. Validity of petition signature when signer has signed more petitions than offices to be
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