Court Upholds Injunction Against South Dakota Election Law

8th Circuit Court of Appeals

Filed November 1st, 2022

Detected March 2nd, 2026

Summary

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction against South Dakota's Senate Bill 180, which governs paid petition circulators. The court found the law likely violates the First Amendment by being overbroad and not narrowly tailored to election integrity.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's preliminary injunction against South Dakota's Senate Bill 180, concerning paid petition circulators. The court determined that plaintiffs had standing due to a concrete injury impacting their ability to gather signatures. It found the statute likely fails under exacting scrutiny because the state did not demonstrate that paid circulators pose a greater fraud risk than volunteers, and the disclosure requirements are intrusive and burdensome. The court concluded the statute is likely facially invalid as overbroad and violative of the First Amendment, and deferred to the district court to determine the severability of any surviving portions.

This ruling means South Dakota officials are currently enjoined from enforcing the challenged provisions of Senate Bill 180. Regulated entities, specifically political organizations and those involved in petition circulation, should continue to operate under the existing legal framework and await further court proceedings to determine if any parts of the law will ultimately be allowed to take effect. Non-compliance with the enjoined provisions will not result in penalties under this specific law at this time.

What to do next

Review the court's decision regarding Senate Bill 180 and its impact on petition circulation in South Dakota.
Continue to adhere to existing election laws and practices pending further judicial determination on the severability of SB 180 provisions.

Penalties

The court's decision upholds the injunction, meaning penalties for failure to comply with the enjoined provisions of Senate Bill 180 are not currently being enforced.

Source document (simplified)

[PUBLISHED] [Grasz, Author, with Stras and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Election law. In a suit challenging the provisions in Senate Bill 180 governing paid petition circulators in South Dakota and specifying penalties for failure to comply with those requirements, the district court did not err in preliminarily enjoining South Dakota officials from enforcing the requirements; plaintiffs had standing to bring the action as the record at this point in the proceedings showed that it was faced with a concrete, particularized, and actual injury from Senate Bill 180 because the act directly impacted plaintiff's ability to reach its audience and gather sufficient signatures to place initiatives on the ballot; the statute fails under the exacting scrutiny standard because the state has not shown that paid petition circulators posed a greater risk of fraud than volunteer circulators; further the process for making the information paid circulators must provide public is likely to subject them to harassment and is intrusive and burdensome; finally, the statute is not narrowly tailored to advance the state's interest in election integrity; as a result, plaintiff showed they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the statute is facially invalid as overbroad and violative of the First Amendment; the other preliminary injunction factors favor the issuance of injunctive relief; court would not second guess the scope of the district court's injunction, and the district court can determine in further proceedings whether some portions of Senate Bill 180 can survive scrutiny and whether they are severable.

File:

212428P.pdf Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 Case Number: 21-2428 District Court: U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota - Southern Author: Judge L. Steven Grasz