Letter to the Editor - Owen: Amendment L limits power of South Dakotans at the ballot box 

Here we go again. The political elites are trying for the third time to get us to change the Constitution so that future amendments need 60 percent of the votes to win. Not 55 percent, not even 59 percent, 60 percent. 

They tried this before in 2018. Voters rejected Amendment X, which would have required 55 percent approval for constitutional amendments. In 2022, voters rejected Amendment C, which would have required 60 percent approval for certain ballot measures.

Here’s the ultimate irony: Amendment L only needs a majority to force the next ones to need 60 percent. That’s simply unfair. 

I have been part of at least nine ballot measure campaigns in South Dakota and didn’t win all of them. Even when we lost, I respected the judgment of the voters. Ask yourself why the political leaders that keep putting this mess on the ballot don’t seem to have that same trust in your vote. 

This issue transcends a single party, election, or ballot measure. Political majorities fluctuate, issues evolve and elected officials change. However, the rules established in our Constitution remain constant. 

The people of South Dakota have been given the power to vote on serious issues, including amendments to the Constitution. Amendment L limits that power and shifts the power of future changes to a minority of 41 percent. That’s all it will take to kill ideas that the vast majority of voters approve. That stinks. 

I am voting NO on Amendment L and ask that you would also. 

Let’s use our majority to stop them from limiting our power. Maybe this time they will finally stop. 

David Owen

David Owen is a former president of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry.