2012 South Dakota Codified Laws
Title 12 ELECTIONS
Chapter 27. Campaign Finance Requirements
§12-27-17 Statements to be filed regarding payments for communications identifying candidate or office holder but not advocating election or defeat--Contents--Exceptions.

12-27-17. Statements to be filed regarding payments for communications identifying candidate or office holder but not advocating election or defeat--Contents--Exceptions. Any political committee or political party that makes a payment or promise of payment totaling one thousand dollars or more for a communication that clearly identifies a candidate or public office holder, but does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of the candidate or public office holder, and that is disseminated, broadcast, or otherwise published within sixty days of an election, shall file a statement with the secretary of state disclosing the name, street address, city, and state of such political committee or political party. The statement shall also include the name of the candidate or public office holder mentioned in the communication, the amount spent on the communication, and a description of the content of the communication. The statement shall be received and filed within forty-eight hours of the time that the communication is disseminated, broadcast, or otherwise published.

For the purposes of this section, the term, communication, does not include:

(1) Any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinion or commentary writings, or letter to the editor printed in a newspaper, magazine, flyer, pamphlet, or other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate, political committee, or political party;

(2) Any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast facility not owned or controlled by a candidate, political committee, or political party;

(3) Any communication by a person made in the regular course and scope of the person's business or ministry or any communication made by a membership organization solely to members of the organization and the members' families; and

(4) Any communication that refers to any candidate only as part of the popular name of a bill or statute.

Source: SL 2007, ch 80, § 17; SL 2010, ch 76, § 7, eff. Mar. 25, 2010.