South Dakota’s Primary Election System is Broken

PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) (Article Courtesy of South Dakota News Watch)

Amendment H proponents claim that South Dakota’s primary election system is broken.

South Dakota Open Primaries chairman, Joe Kirby, said, “South Dakota’s closed primary election system, the same used in New York and New Jersey, is designed to produce good, competitive races in a healthy two-party system. Unfortunately, our two-party system disappeared years ago when the South Dakota Democrat party became mostly irrelevant.” He went on to say, “It is worth noting that none of our neighboring states use that sort of closed primary system.”

De Knudson, Treasurer of South Dakota Open Primaries, said, “Our closed primary system is not fair to the 153,000 independent voters in the state. They deserve to have a voice in selecting the people who will lead the state. After all, democracy works best when all voters get to vote.”

Kirby said, “Under our closed primary election system, the only voters who usually matter are those who turn up for the June Republican primary. This year only 17% of registered voters were motivated to vote, and their political philosophies appear to be well to the right of mainstream South Dakota values. That is a threat to our state’s favorable business climate.”

Drey Samuelson, who along with Kirby and Knudson is a sponsor of Amendment H, is the former chief of staff for Democrat US Senator Tim Johnson. He said, “Democrat party leaders are out of touch with regular South Dakota Democrats. Their opposition to Amendment H is ridiculous. There are very few competitive political races in the state anymore. All voters, including Democrats and independents, should have a meaningful voice in selecting the state’s leaders.”

Kirby said, “South Dakota politics is controlled by special interests, hard liners and party bosses. They don’t like Amendment H because it would take political power back from them and return it to the voters where it belongs. But polls like the ones conducted by South Dakota Newswatch show that most South Dakotans are in favor.”

Amendment H: Top-two primary elections creates an open South Dakota primary. No more Republican primary or Democratic primary. All candidates on a single ballot. All voters get that ballot. The top-two vote getters advance to the general election. It covers the governor as well as congressional, legislative and county offices. Most importantly, all voters get to vote.

Kirby also said, “Our big challenge in the next couple of months is to make voters aware of Amendment H and how it works. We have a number of volunteers in our speakers bureau who are eager to explain it to groups around the state. Contact us at sdopenprimaries.org.”