The bill proposes to amend South Dakota's legal holidays by officially designating Election Day as a legal holiday. The amendment adds Election Day, defined as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year, to the list of recognized legal holidays in the state. This inclusion aims to encourage voter participation by ensuring that citizens have a day off to engage in the electoral process.

In addition to the insertion of Election Day, the bill also makes several deletions and modifications to the existing list of legal holidays. For instance, it removes the phrase "the" before each holiday name and updates the descriptions of certain holidays, such as changing "the anniversary of the birthdays of" to include the names "Abraham Lincoln and George Washington" for President's Day. The bill also clarifies the observance of holidays that fall on weekends, specifying that if certain holidays fall on a Sunday, the following Monday will be observed as a legal holiday, and if they fall on a Saturday, the preceding Friday will be observed.

Statutes affected:
Introduced, 01/27/2025: 1-5-1