South Dakotans to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana on November ballot

South Dakotans will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana at the ballot box in November.

The South Dakota Secretary of State's Office announced on Monday that it has validated the initiated constitutional amendment, which will appear on the 2020 ballot as Constitutional Amendment A. The office deemed more than 36,000 petition signatures valid based on a random sample.

If passed, it would legalize marijuana and require the Legislature to pass laws regarding hemp, including laws to ensure access to marijuana for medical use, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Residents have until 5 p.m. CT Feb. 5 to challenge the ballot measure.

2020 session: Lawmakers ready to legalize industrial hemp

Voters will also decide in November whether to legalize medical marijuana in Initiated Measure 26, which was validated by the Secretary of State's Office in December. The deadline to challenge that initiated measure is 5 p.m. CT Jan. 20.

South Dakota will be the first state to vote on both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana legalization on the same ballot, according to Matthew Schweich, deputy director at Marijuana Policy Project.

Do they have the votes? S.D. lawmakers want to 'get it done with' in legalizing hemp.

Legislators are also preparing a bill to legalize industrial hemp, as well as a bill to put the industrial hemp question to voters in November if the Legislature fails to pass it this year. Gov. Kristi Noem has continued to oppose legalizing industrial hemp since she vetoed the bill during the 2019 legislative session.