No candidate for elective school board membership may be nominated unless the candidate is a resident voter of the school district and unless the candidate files a nominating petition with the business manager of the school district. The candidate must file the nominating petition no later than five p.m. on the Tuesday seventy days before the date of the election. The petition is considered timely filed if the petition is mailed by registered mail by five p.m. on the Tuesday seventy days before the date of the election. The candidate shall sign a formal declaration of candidacy before the circulation of the petition. The petition must be signed by at least twenty voters of the school district or if the school district is divided into school board representation areas, the petition must be signed by at least twenty voters who reside within the school board representation area. A nominating petition may not be circulated more than four months before the election. An individual who signs a petition or the petition circulator shall write the individual's place of residence and date of signing. The petition circulator must verify the petition under oath. The business manager shall verify by signature that the candidate is a resident voter of the school district and that the nominating petition contains the minimum number of signatures. Upon verification by the business manager, the filing of the nominating petition constitutes nomination and entitles the candidate to have the candidate's name placed on the ballot for the term the candidate specifies on the petition.

Source: SDC 1939, § 15.2510; SL 1947, ch 67 ; SL 1955, ch 41 , ch 9, § 10; SL 1957, ch 64 , § 2; SL 1959, ch 64 ; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.2310; SL 1968, ch 47 , § 1; SL 1975, ch 128 , § 33; SL 1979, ch 113 , § 2; SL 1981, ch 129 , § 1; SL 1985, ch 119 , § 2; SL 1995, ch 90 , § 2; SL 1996, ch 103 , § 1; SL 2004, ch 75 , § 7; SL 2007, ch 89 , § 2, eff. Feb. 15, 2007; SL 2009, ch 69 , § 11; SL 2010, ch 74 , § 24; SL 2015, ch 77 , § 16 rejected Nov. 8, 2016; SL 2025, ch 40 , § 14, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.