- Event type: CREATE_FROM
South Dakota State Constitutional Convention 1889
Following the rejected 'Sioux Falls' Convention of 1885, the South Dakota Convention met and began the drafting process in July of 1889. They used the articles of the Sioux Falls Convention as starting propositions to begin the amendment process. The South Dakota Constitution was ratified in October 1889.
Committee on Arrangement and Phraseology
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Article VII: Election and the Rights of Suffrage (Sioux Falls Constitution)
ARTICLE VII.
ELECTIONS AND RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.
SECTION 1. Every male person resident of this State who shall be of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, not otherwise disqualified, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall be a qualified elector under the laws of the Territory of Dakota at the date of the ratification of this Constitution by the people, or who shall have resided in the United States one year, in this State six months in the county thirty days and in the election precinct where he offers his vote ten days next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election.
First; Citizens of the United States.
Second; Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States upon the subject of naturalization.
SEC. 2. The legislature shall at its first session after the admission of tin State into the Union, submit to a vote of the electors of the State the following questions to be voted upon at the next general election held thereafter, namely: “Shall the word ‘male’ be stricken from the article of the Constitution relating to elections and the right of suffrage.” If a majority of the votes east upon that question are in favor of striking out said word “male,” it shall be stricken out and there shall thereafter be no distinction between males and females in the exercise of the right of suffrage at any election in this State.
SEC. 3. All Votes shall be by ballot, but the legislature may provide for numbering ballots for the purpose of preventing and detecting fraud.
SEC. 4. All general elections shall be biennial.
SEC. 5. Electors shall in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same. And no elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of elections, except in time of war or public danger.
SEC. 6. No elector shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this State by reason of his absence on business of the United States or of this State, or in the military or naval service of the United States.
SEC. 7. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in consequence of being stationed therein.
SEC. 8. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any election, nor shall any person convicted of treason or felony be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil rights.
SEC. 9. Any woman having the qualifications enumerated in section 1 of this article, as to age, residence and citizenship, and including those now qualified by the laws of the Territory, may vote at any election held solely for school purposes and may hold any office in this State, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution.
Decisions yet to be taken
- Article VII: Election and the Rights of Suffrage (Sioux Falls Constitution) (introduced on 1889-07-23 14:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e1073719) [This document]
Document Timeline
- Article VII: Election and the Rights of Suffrage (Sioux Falls Constitution) (introduced on 1889-07-23 14:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e1073719) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]