---
type: "Bill"
title: "remove the requirement for a ballot election in township elections if candidates are unopposed."
description: "remove the requirement for a ballot election in township elections if candidates are unopposed."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1144"
citation: "South Dakota HB 1144 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections", "Townships"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hansen", "Pischke"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 14
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2020-01-30"
last_action: "2020-02-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c940947b-d6c7-47c4-bc10-551b4f718ffb"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=1144&Session=2020"
source_hash: "9ac544362555964102636516c677808ae3ef3e0e5cc864e07f4716ae41c307a3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sd"]
---

# South Dakota HB 1144 (2020) — remove the requirement for a ballot election in township elections if candidates are unopposed.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=HB1144P.html&Session=2020&Version=Introduced&Bill=1144)
2. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=HB1144ENR.html&Session=2020&Version=Enrolled&Bill=1144)

## Votes

- Do Pass - 2020 — **61–5** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass - 2020 — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- - 2020HB 1020, HB 1066, HB 1075, HB 1144, HB 1020, HB 1075, HB 1144, HB 1066 — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass - 2020 — **13–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hansen — primary (person)
- Pischke — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-30** First read in House and referred to House Local Government H.J. 106 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-04** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-04** Local Government Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 13, NAYS 0. `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** House of Representatives Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 61, NAYS 5. H.J. 184 `passage`
- **2020-02-06** First read in Senate and referred to Senate Local Government S.J. 157 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-10** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-12** Scheduled for hearing
- **2020-02-12** Local Government Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 7, NAYS 0. `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-12** Certified uncontested, placed on consent
- **2020-02-13** Senate Do Pass, Passed, YEAS 31, NAYS 0. S.J. 230 `passage`
- **2020-02-18** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 304
- **2020-02-19** Signed by the President S.J. 259
- **2020-02-20** Delivered to the Governor on February 20, 2020 H.J. 326 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-02-25** Signed by the Governor on February 24, 2020 H.J. 373 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c940947b-d6c7-47c4-bc10-551b4f718ffb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).