The even-year November elections have been very interesting in South Dakota lately, and will be again in 2010. Word today is that the new state smoking ban will be referred to voters in November 2010 after bar and casino owner efforts to petition for a decision by voters proved successful. Earlier, the secretary of state ruled some of the petition signatures were invalid, but an appeal to a circuit court resulted in a decision that enough signatures were valid to put the matter on the ballot.

Smoking bans and abortion restrictions (which went before voters in 2006 and 2008) remain topics that energize people. They might not be able to flesh out detailed positions of the Republican or Democratic candidates they’ll vote for, but South Dakotans, like many Americans, typically have a strongly-held position on issues like smoking and abortion. Beyond the selection of a new governor and determining whether federal legislators John Thune and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin will be returned to office, the South Dakota 2010 election will be intriguing.