PIERRE – School district bond elections will be held in November or June if HB1263 becomes law.
HB1263 would require those kinds of school district elections to be held in conjunction with the primary election in June or the general election in November. In years without a primary or general election, the school elections would still be held in June or November.
Rep. Timothy Goodwin, R-Rapid City, noted the low voter turnout for a major school bond election in Rapid City.
“When you schedule a vote in the dead of winter you’re suppressing their vote,” Goodwin said. “I’m just trying to have it when the maximum number of people vote.”
Rep. Linda Duba, D-Sioux Falls, said she questioned the timing of a Sioux Falls school bond vote in September, 2018. She said school officials explained that the vote needed to occur in September so the new schools would be ready in 2021.
“They are still on track,” Duba said.
Rep. Ray Ring, D-Vermillion, cautioned that a school bond election could be overwhelmed by all the news surrounding a presidential or gubernatorial election.
Voter participation is a matter of personal choice, according to Rep. Ryan Cwach, D-Yankton.
“If a citizen chooses not to exercise that duty,” Cwach said, “it’s their choice.”
The bill was approved by the House on a vote of 38-27. It now goes to the Senate.
