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Citizens United: South Dakota's response

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case has rendered 24 state election laws unconstitutional. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group has decided to report what each state is doing to respond to the highly-contested ruling. We’re going state by state, and now onto South Dakota.

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This article was written by Ryan Sibley, a Sunlight Foundation reporter.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case has rendered 24 state election laws unconstitutional. The 5-4 ruling in favor of Citizens United reversed a provision of the McCain-Feingold act that prohibited any electioneering communication—defined as advertising via broadcast, cable or satellite that is paid for by corporations or labor unions. Many states have acted fast to counter corporations’ ability to spend endless amounts of money to influence elections by passing laws that force disclosure of all independent expenditures in near real time. The Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group has decided to report what each of these states is doing to respond to the highly-contested ruling. We’re going state by state, and now onto South Dakota:

State: South Dakota

Bill: HB 1053

Passed: Yes

Website: http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/campaignfinance.shtm

After the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case, the state of South Dakota had to repeal all laws prohibiting independent expenditures by corporations and labor unions. According to South Dakota’s Secretary of State, Chris Nelson, those prohibitions, “have been replaced with some very stringent laws.”

The law passed in South Dakota is similar to one passed by Arizona in that it requires a disclosure statement be filed for any electioneering communication (advertisement). The main difference is South Dakota allows disclosure within 48 hours of the broadcast of any advertisement paid for by an independent expenditure, while Arizona only gives organizations 24 hours to file. All disclosures are supposed to be available to the public via the Secretary of State’s Website

The disclosure will contain information regarding the organization making the expenditure, the amount spent and a description of the content of the advertisement, such as whether the money was for or against a certain candidate. Disclosures have to be filed only if a minimum of one thousand dollars is spent.

Noah Kunin is the Multimedia Content Producer for the Sunlight Foundation. He leads the conceptualization and production of high-quality, creative and persuasive visual content that works in concert with articles and initiatives across the Sunlight Foundation's network. He also works with the latest technologies and open video community to connect government data to video content.
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