South Dakota voters divided over ballot measures on abortion, marijuana

Voters in South Dakota are closely divided on the issues of legalizing recreational marijuana and protecting abortion access, which will both appear as ballot measures in the state in November, according to a new poll. 

The Emerson College Polling/KELO-TV/The Hill survey found slight advantages for the side against both of these measures, but only slighty. The poll found 50 percent of respondents said they oppose legalizing recreational marijuana, compared to 45 percent who support it, while 48 percent oppose the measure that would create a right to abortion in the state constitution and 45 percent support it. 

The remaining 7 percent on the marijuana measure and 5 percent on the abortion measure were undecided. 

Both of these issues are key initiatives for Democrats that have demonstrated some amount of bipartisan support in other states with similar measures on the ballot. About half of all states have legalized recreational marijuana.

Abortion has been a top issue on voters’ minds since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and it was credited with partially contributing to Democrats’ surprise win in the midterms that year. Seven states have also held votes on abortion-related ballot measures since then, and in each state, the side in favor of protecting abortion access has won. 

That includes red-leaning states like Kansas and Ohio. 

But these measures will face one of their toughest tests in South Dakota, one of the most conservative states in the country. 

Pollsters found a significant partisan split in support and opposition for both measures, with 84 percent of supporters of Vice President Harris in favor of the abortion measure and 72 percent in favor of the marijuana measure. Meanwhile, 71 percent of supporters of former President Trump oppose the abortion measure and 66 percent oppose the marijuana one. 

Young voters were the most supportive of legalizing marijuana, with 68 percent of votes under 30 in favor, while voters over 70 were the most opposed, at 64 percent. 

But the fact that the poll shows close results demonstrates the certain amount of crossover appeal the measures have in a state where Trump leads Harris by 27 points, 62 percent to 35 percent. 

The poll was conducted from Oct. 19-22 among 825 likely voters. The credibility interval, similar to margin of error, was 3.3 points.