SB 68 South Dakota Senate · 2025 Regular Session

require an individual be a citizen of the United States before being eligible to vote and to provide a penalty therefor.

SB 68 would require individuals to be U.S. citizens before they are eligible to vote in South Dakota elections. The bill establishes a penalty for voting without meeting this citizenship requirement. It directly affects all voters in the state by adding a citizenship verification condition to the existing voting qualifications. This legislation does not change other voting rules but specifically adds citizenship as a mandatory eligibility criterion.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Jan 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Feb 4, 2025 Signed Mar 31, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Conference Committee Engrossed Enrolled · 2 edits · Mar 13, 2025
MINOR
This bill was finalized in its enrolled form with no substantive policy changes from the conference committee version. The core provisions requiring US citizenship for voting eligibility and establishing penalties for voter fraud remain identical. The document format changed from a legislative draft to the official enrolled version ready for the Governor's signature.
TECHNICAL

Removed browser compatibility warnings and JavaScript requirements that were present in the draft version but are not part of the legislative text.

Added official enrolled document formatting including certification language, signature blocks for the Governor and Secretary of State, and file number placeholders for final chapter designation.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 12, 2025 · House Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

322
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 35
Mar 12, 2025
D Democratic3
2 Nay 1
66% Nay
R Republican32
32 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
23
Key actions
13
Committee
9
Amendments
3
Mar 31, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by the Governor on 2025-03-31 S.J. 539
executive
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by the Speaker H.J. 548
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by the President S.J. 528
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Senate Conference Committee Report adopted , Passed, YEAS 32, NAYS 2 S.J. 523
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
House of Representatives Conference Committee Report adopted , Passed, YEAS 66, NAYS 4 H.J. 537
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Report adopted , Passed, YEAS 6, NAYS 0
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Introduced
Motion to amend , Passed, YEAS 6, NAYS 0 Amendment 68K
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (32-2-1)
senate
Mar 11, 2025
Lower · Passed
House of Representatives Conference Committee appointments H.J. 522
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 63, NAYS 6 H.J. 482
lower
Mar 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
State Affairs Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 12, NAYS 1
lower
Mar 3, 2025
Introduced
State Affairs Motion to amend , Passed, Amendment 68F
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
First read in House and referred to H.J. 185
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 32, NAYS 3 S.J. 156
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
Senate Motion to amend , Passed, S.J. 154 Amendment 68D
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Deferred to another day , Passed, S.J. 135
upper
Jan 29, 2025
Upper · Passed
State Affairs Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 5, NAYS 4
upper
Jan 22, 2025
Committee
Referred to S.J. 72
upper
25 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors