What is Amendment H really?

A wolf in sheep's clothing

Guest Post by Juliann Talkington -

Amendment H would bring top-two primary elections to South Dakota.

A top-two primary is a type of primary election where all candidates are listed on the same ballot. The two candidates with the top number of votes advance to the general election. As a result, it is possible (likely) that two candidates from the same political party would win the primary and face off in the general election. This would mean some parties would never have a candidate in the general election.

There are only two states that have true top-two primaries now, California and Washington. Both these states have significant issues with cost of living, crime, and homelessness. California and many parts of Washington are so expensive families struggle to survive there.

In addition, California and Washington have seen an increase in the number of fringe candidates elected. And interestingly, there is no real difference between primary election participation in California and what we have in South Dakota now.

The South Dakota Democrat, Libertarian, and Republican parties are ALL opposed to top-two primaries.

Since the top-two system would basically make the primary election a "general election", the cost of running for office would increase A LOT. The expense would make it nearly impossible for average people to run for office. This means people like Dan Ahlers, Democrat, and Bethany Soye, Republican, who won office on very small budgets by walking door-to-door and talking with constituents, would be eliminated from the process.

Instead we would have candidates who are supported by big business and out-of-state interests. Things could quickly become skewed in favor of one special interest or another and the average citizen would have little voice in the process.

Also, the top-two election system would create major issues with transparency. In this system, a candidate could list any party affiliation on the ballot, even if they have no relationship with the party.

Those pushing amendment H say independents cannot participate in the primary election. This is not true. Independents vote in primary elections in South Dakota now. They can vote in the Democrat primary or take a few minutes and change their registration and vote in the Republican primary election.

Interestingly, a large amount of the money for Amendment H has been provided by an out-of-state Political Action Committee (PAC), Unite America, that receives a lot of money from East Coast billionaires. In 2023, this Colorado PAC donated almost half a million dollars to change elections in South Dakota. Estimates suggest this group will donate millions before the election is over. One has to wonder why an out-of-state group would be so intent on changing South Dakota.

In short, changing our constitution and voting system to a something that appears to be failing in the states where it was adopted seems unwise and counterproductive. Let’s keep things moving forward. Vote No on Amendment H.