State Election Supervisor Kea Warne says a measure to ban most abortions in South Dakota will be on the November ballot.

South Dakotans should know by week's end if they will be voting on the issue of abortion again.



Secretary of State Chris Nelson says his office is close to finishing the process of validating petition signatures on a proposal to ban most abortions.



If abortion opponents have collected enough signatures from registered voters, the issue will be on the November ballot.

 
A new system to certify issues for the general election ballot in South Dakota is getting its first test since it was approved by last year's Legislature.



In the past, the secretary of state's staff reviewed each line of every petition to see if all required information was included.

South Dakota voters won't be deciding this fall whether to increase the state tax on beer, wine and liquor by a dime a drink.

Several ballot issues are circulating or already confirmed for the 2008 South Dakota general election, according to the election section of the Secretary of State's Website.



Questions already on the 2008 ballot:



- Constitutional Amendment G - Repeal certain reimbursement restrictions for travel by legislators to and from a legislative session.

A petition drive is under way in South Dakota that could lead to a ballot measure to forbid lobbying by groups that are subsidized by taxpayers.



It would take nearly 17,000 signatures to put that issue to a statewide vote.



Supporters say the measure also would make government contracts more accessible and place stiff restrictions on the officials who award those contracts.

South Dakota voters may be asked again next year to decide the issue of legalized abortions in the state.



A proposal to further restrict abortion has been filed with the Legislative Research Council for review, but it is not yet being circulated for signatures.



It will require 16,776 signatures of registered voters by April first to get an initiated law on the general election ballot.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson thinks next year's general election ballot will be much shorter than the one voters faced last November.

 Judicial independence is under attack from voters and politicians who don't understand that court rulings must be based on the law instead of what is popular. 

That's according to former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who spoke Monday at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association in Michigan. 

O'Connor urged the governors to push for improved civics instruction in public schools.