Opinion ID: 1906367
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: defective signatures

Text: ARSD 5:02:08:08 as amended is the rule by which the State Board of Elections prescribed the required form for referendum petitions. Under the heading Instructions to Signers: the form states: 1. Signers to this referendum must individually sign their name in the form they are registered to vote. 2. Each signer or circulator must add the mailing address of his residence and the date of signing. Place of residence shall be shown by name of city or town, with street and number, if any; if residence is outside of a city or town he should designate the township or precinct or route and box number. (DO NOT USE POST OFFICE BOX NUMBER). 3. Abbreviations, including DITTO MARKS, can be used. ______________________________________________________________________________ NAME RESIDENCE DATE OF SIGNING (with street and No., if any) ___________ _____________________________________ ________________________ ___________ _____________________________________ ________________________ SDCL 2-1-3 provides that The form of the petition shall be prescribed by the state board of elections. Pursuant to SDCL 1-26, the Administrative Procedure Act, the State Board of Elections prescribed the present form through its rulemaking power. Prior to being amended in 1976, SDCL 2-1-3 provided in part: [A]nd each elector shall add to his signature his place of residence, including his street and house number, if any be known, if he resides within the corporate limits of an incorporated municipality; or if he resides without the corporate limits of an incorporated municipality, he shall state the name or the number and range used in the legal description of the township wherein he resides, and date of signing. Defendant argues that by deleting the statutory requirements regarding the contents of the petition and by delegating to the State Board of Elections the duty of prescribing the form of the petition, the legislature intended to abandon the strict requirements of the old statute. As a result, defendant argues, the State Board did not have authority to add any further requirements. Defendant attempts by this argument to distinguish our holding in Headley v. Ostroot, 76 S.D. 246, 76 N.W.2d 474, wherein we said: [T]his court has held, and the holding has been reaffirmed that the requirements of SDC 55.0402 [SDCL 2-1-3] are substantial in character and not merely requirements of form. State ex rel. Jensen v. Wells, 66 S.D. 236, 281 N.W. 99; Shields v. Wells, 65 S.D. 552, 276 N.W. 246; Morford v. Pyle, 53 S.D. 356, 220 N.W. 907; O'Brien v. Pyle, 51 S.D. 385, 214 N.W. 623. Implicit in the holding that these statutory requirements are substantial in character is the thought that they are important and essential elements of the law giving effect to the constitutional provision relating to the initiative and referendum. Considered in their entirety these requirements are to prevent fraud or corruption in securing the petitions. Morford v. Pyle, supra.       Whether the requirement that a signer of a referendum petition must add his residence in addition to his post office address is a reasonable requirement is to be determined by the legislature in the first instance. The function of the court is only to determine whether this requirement bears any real relation to the duty imposed upon the legislature to give effect to the constitutional provision, or whether the requirement is a palpable invasion of the right to refer a law to the people. In case of doubt, the court should give effect to the will of the legislature. State ex rel. Richards v. Whisman, 36 S.D. 260, 154 N.W. 707, L.R.A.1917B, 1; Hodges v. Snyder, 43 S.D. 166, 178 N.W. 575; Culhane v. Equitable Life Ass'n Soc., 65 S.D. 337, 274 N.W. 315. If effect is to be given to the constitutional provision it is clear that safeguards must be established to prevent fraud and corruption in securing the petitions. In this connection it is essential, we believe, that the petitions disclose information which will readily permit anyone to check the petitions and determine if the signers are qualified. 76 S.D. at 249-250, 76 N.W.2d at 475-476. Defendant's argument is not well taken. We see no reason to hold that the requirements set out on the petition form are any less mandatory when properly prescribed by the State Board of Elections than when enacted by the legislature. Defendant concedes that thirteen signatures indicating a non-South Dakota address as place of residence may not be counted. We note that SDCL 2-1-3 requires that only qualified electors of this state may sign the petition. These thirteen signatures will not be counted, defendant having conceded the nonresidency of the signers. Further, we find that 323 signers living in larger communities within South Dakota failed to include their street and house numbers along with their signatures. These identifying numbers are required for delivery of the mail in these communities. We also find that 189 signers with residences outside cities or towns included only their townships along with their signatures. The petition form requires mailing addresses of the signers. In the case of city dwellers, this includes the name of the city plus the street and house number. Rural residents must indicate the city or town in which they receive mail plus the township in which they reside. Township names alone are insufficient, as many township names are duplicated in various counties throughout the state. See 1970 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Characteristics of the Population, Part 43, South Dakota. As discussed in Headley v. Ostroot, supra, the purpose of these requirements is to prevent fraud and to allow challengers of a petition to verify that the alleged signers are in fact qualified electors of the state. These requirements are not difficult to fulfill, as witnessed by the thousands of petitioners who have met even more stringent requirements in the past, and do not represent an onerous burden upon the right of the people to be heard. Accordingly, these 512 signatures may not be counted. Plaintiff challenges 2,931 signatures of petitioners living in smaller communities within South Dakota who failed to indicate street and house numbers. The referee found that although these communities did have street and house numbers, mail would generally be delivered without such numbers. In keeping with the statutory mandate that the real intention of the petitioners not be defeated by technicalities, we believe that the absence of street and house numbers did not deny plaintiff a reasonable opportunity to verify the signatures of petitioners residing in these communities. We find that under the circumstances here presented, substantial compliance with the prescribed form was achieved through the use of mailing addresses alone. Accordingly, these signatures will not be invalidated. Finally, we find that 304 signers failed to indicate the date on which they signed the petition. All of the requirements of the petition form are placed upon equal footing by the State Board of Elections. They are substantial in character and must be substantially complied with in order to render signatures valid. Helgerson v. Riiff, supra; Headley v. Ostroot, supra. The 304 undated signatures must therefore be held to be invalid.