A U.S. District Court Judge is ruling that a new state law is unconstitutional. The law passed earlier this year and moved the filing deadline for citizen-led ballot initiatives to nine months ahead of the general election.
HB 1184 changed the deadline to file citizen-led balloting initiatives to the first Tuesday in February to qualify on a ballot. The previous deadline was the second Tuesday in May, six months prior to the general election date.
The prime House sponsor on the law was House Speaker Jon Hansen, who’s also the co-chair of the anti-abortion group, Life Defense Fund. Life Defense Fund was suing petition gatherers on Amendment G, a measure that would have enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution.
Life Defense Fund requested an expedited trial date to get the issue resolved ahead of the 2024 November election date but was not granted. Ultimately, the case was dismissed after Amendment G failed at the ballot.
However, the state argued cases like that one are a large driver behind the need for a nine-month deadline to submit citizen-led ballot initiatives. That’s because the earlier deadline is “necessary to give meaning to a citizen’s right to challenge a petition in court.”
Grassroots organization Dakotans for Health filed suit, saying a nine-month deadline is unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment. Petition circulation is core political speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.
The group also argues voters shouldn’t decide issues based on possible lawsuits.
U.S. District Court Judge Camela Theeler wrote that the court isn’t persuaded the State has a regulatory interest tied to a nine-month deadline. She said while the Legislature passed the law, “the impetus of HB 1184 was Speaker Hansen’s inability to have a trial on the challenge to Amendment G prior to the election.”
She said Hansen was acting on behalf of Life Defense Fund, not a government actor, adding the Legislature has only granted the right to institute such a lawsuit to citizens.
Speaker Hansen, however said he believes Judge Theeler got it wrong, calling HB 1184 an election integrity law.
"The Biden appointed federal judge got this wrong. The 8th Circuit said the people’s elected legislature has the lawful authority to set the petition submission deadline—not unelected federal judges. The deadline set is shorter than some states and longer than others. This law is a reasonable step to safeguard our process and ensure the validity of petition signatures," Hansen said. "After what we witnessed in the last election cycle—the gathering of many illegal petition signatures—we will continue to take steps to make sure we have integrity in our petition process."
The state has until Sept. 29 to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
