So far, everyone in the South Dakota House but yahooligans and Ron-Paulite gold backers Reps. Dan Kaiser (R-3/Aberdeen) and Elizabeth May (R-27/Kyle) agrees that the Gosch clause in House Bill 1018 is a good idea. That's the election reform statute that clarifies that notarizing one's own candidacy petition is illegal. Speaker Brian Gosch (R-32/Rapid City) notarized his own candidacy petitions last spring, and even he voted for HB 1018 Friday. Most of us recognized the impropriety of Gosch's self-notarization the moment it was brought to light, but Secretary of State Jason Gant needed it spelled out for him. The House has done that; the Senate will shortly follow suit.
Speaking of Secretary Gant, how's he doing? He hasn't tweeted anything over a month; I'm worried he might be depressed. He does appear to be losing track of time, as apparent by the date stamp on this campaign finance report:
Secretary Gant stamps this 2013 year-end finance report, submitted Janaury 8, 2013, with the date "Jan 11 2012." Same on this year-end report for the No on P committee filed January 8 and this 2013 termination report for the No on P committee filed January 9.
Funny—Secretary Gant's stamper was working fine the day before, when he marked Rep. Scott Parsley's financial interest statement "Jan 10 2013." Maybe the impending Inauguration caused Secretary Gant a pang of longing for the days when Rick Santorum had more than a single-digit chance of winning the GOP Presidential nomination, and he spun the numbers back to make himself feel better.
The date is a small detail, but the Secretary of State's office is all about attention to detail. Whether it's dates, use of the notary seal, or any other statutory obligation to preserve the public trust, Secretary Gant's office is just plain sloppy.
I doubt Mr. Gant personally sits and writes dates on those things. Who among you has not written the wrong year on a check after the new year begins? We could maybe cut Mr. Gant some slack here. Gant deserves slack.