Voter bribery bill fails in SD House panel

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A proposal to limit the use of food in campaign events and raise the penalty for voter bribery failed Feb. 23 in a South Dakota House committee.

Free meals became a hot topic in last year's campaign, as both Republicans and Democrats accused each other of buying votes with free food or food coupons. In response, a group of lawmakers introduced a bill this year that attempted to specify what constituted voter bribery with food.

The Senate passed the bill Feb. 2. But legislators on the House State Affairs Committee Feb. 23 were skeptical and often sarcastic about the bill.

“I can go out there and pick (a voter) up . but I can't give him a hot dog?” said Rep. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls. “This is crazy.”

The bill would have made voter bribery a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail. Voter bribery is currently a less severe misdemeanor offense.

It would have added a section to state law making it a crime for candidates or supporters to feed or offer food to voters and then encourage them to vote on the same day.

“All this is doing is making it clear” what's allowed at campaign events, said Rep. Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs, who introduced the bill.

Sen. Jim Bradford, D-Pine Ridge, told the committee he opposed the bill because it interfered with American Indian customs of having a meal with any visitors or guests.

“You could be having a lunch with some guys and say, 'You here, come on, I'll haul you over to the county seat,”' Bradford said. “You're breaking the law, according to this.”

Bradford also pointed out that state prosecutors would not have the authority to prosecute American Indians on reservation land, which is held by tribes as part of a trust with the federal government.

Russell, a former state's attorney in Shannon County, which includes much of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, acknowledged that only non-American Indians could be charged with illegally offering food on an Indian reservation.

“A Native American could give out ham sandwiches all day and whatever else, and you couldn't prosecute them?” Abdallah asked in response.

Rep. Nick Moser, R-Yankton, eventually moved to have the bill voted down.

“Just briefly, I think we need to probably evaluate why we're putting people in prison, clogging up the system,” Moser said. He added that he thought state residents wouldn't choose a candidate “based on a meal they were served.”

Republicans last fall accused Democrats of violating state and federal law by offering people food in exchange for votes at three campaign rallies on American Indian reservations. Democrats urged people at those events to vote early.

Democrats in turn said a Rapid City get-out-the-vote rally featuring top Republican candidates might have broken the law by offering food. They also complained that a Republican legislative candidate handed out coupons worth $1 off at the snack bar at a high school football game.

State Attorney General Marty Jackley and U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson declined to prosecute anyone.

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Associated Press reporter Chet Brokaw contributed to this report.