Wednesday, the South Dakota Farmers Union delivered over 40,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office on their ballot measure to set up an Independent Redistricting Committee. If verified, voters will cast ballots in the November 2016 election. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says it was truly a grassroots effort to get the petition signatures.

Sombke says the 40,000 signatures is well above the 27,000 plus signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.

He says if the Secretary of State verifies enough signatures, then voters will decide whether or not they want to change the state’s redistricting system.

Sombke says the next step for his group will be to educate voters on what a YES vote will mean on the redistricting issue.