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By CHET brOKAW – May 20, 2008
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota officials and six news organizations proposed a legal settlement Tuesday that would allow exit polling within 100 feet of a voting place.
The lawsuit by the news organizations argued that a state law barring exit polling near voting places violates the First Amendment because it restricts speech and commentary about the political process and limits media opportunities to gather information about elections.
South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said the agreement appeared prudent because courts previously have ruled against similar restrictions on exit polling.
“The state is conceding we cannot enforce that portion of the statute which keeps the exit pollers 100 feet away from the polling place,” the attorney general said.
The agreement was filed Tuesday in federal court, but U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol had not yet signed it. He could accept the agreement, reject it or seek to modify it.
The settlement would prevent the state from applying the distance restrictions on exit polling in the June 3 primary and subsequent elections. Other portions of the law, which prevent campaigning or other disruptive behavior close to polling places, will remain in effect.
The lawsuit was filed by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and The Associated Press. Those news organizations sponsor the exit polls, which question people who have voted to find out their views and why they voted as they did.
The news organizations sued after Secretary of State Chris Nelson indicated in an April e-mail that exit polling would be allowed only within the bounds of the law.
The accuracy and reliability of exit polling would be harmed if the questioning were not allowed within 100 feet of voting locations, according to the lawsuit. It noted that at that distance, some voters might get into cars and leave before they can be questioned.

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