Story highlights South Dakota Voters back an 'anti-corruption' law on Election Day

GOP lawmakers almost immediately launched an effort to reverse it

(CNN) South Dakota Republicans on Thursday repealed a historic anti-corruption law approved by voters in a statewide referendum on Election Day.

The measure, which passed with more than 51% backing in November, would have created an independent ethics commission, limited lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, banned officials from joining lobbying firms for two years after leaving office and created so-called "Democracy vouchers" for registered voters to steer toward their preferred candidates.

But state GOP lawmakers said they didn't think voters knew what they were doing.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, signed the repeal bill on Thursday night. In a budget address delivered after the November referendum, he claimed the public had been "hoodwinked by scam artists who grossly misrepresented these proposed measures."

Republican legislators pushed the bill using an "emergency" clause that allows for the reversal to take effect immediately and now prevents voters from initiating a new referendum campaign in response.

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