South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments
Kansas voters also passed a measure clarifying that only citizens can vote.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Citizenship voting, unclaimed property issues pass
Photograph: South Dakota News Watch (embedded from source)
What this story says
- South Dakotans approved two amendments to their state constitution: one to create a trust fund for unclaimed property and another to state that non-citizens cannot vote.
- Voters in South Dakota rejected two other ballot measures: one that would have tied Medicaid coverage to federal funding and another requiring a 60% vote to amend the constitution.
- Kansas voters approved a constitutional amendment clarifying that only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote in the state.
- The Kansas amendment is described as a clarification of existing law, with proponents saying it will increase election confidence and opponents suggesting it could suppress voters.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
57/100
Hype
20/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
South Dakotans voted to approve two amendments to their state constitution. One establishes a trust fund for unclaimed property, and the other emphasizes that non-citizens are not allowed to vote. Voters in the state rejected two other ballot measures. These would have repealed Medicaid coverage if federal funding were removed and would have required a 60% majority to amend the constitution.
In Kansas, voters approved a constitutional amendment that clarifies that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote. This measure is described as a clarification of existing law. Proponents of the Kansas amendment stated it would increase confidence in elections, while opponents suggested it could be used to suppress voters.
Disagreements in reporting
South Dakota News Watch reported that early results indicated decisions on ballot measures were split along party lines, with Republicans supporting most measures and Democrats opposing them. However, the outlet also stated that Amendments I and L were struck down by a majority of voters. The outlet also noted that Amendment K, concerning unclaimed property, received fewer total votes than other measures, suggesting voters may have skipped it due to complexity or lack of interest.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre-rated digests mentioned the two amendments approved in South Dakota concerning unclaimed property and non-citizen voting, nor did they report on the ballot issues rejected in that state. The left-rated digests did not include the arguments from opponents of the Kansas amendment who suggested it could be used to suppress voters.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 4 Nov 2026, 13:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
2 rated outlets
- South Dakota News Watch, the only left-rated outlet with a full report, led with the passage of two amendments: one establishing a trust fund for unclaimed property and another emphasizing that non-citizens cannot vote. It also reported on the rejection of two other ballot issues concerning Medicaid coverage and the threshold for amending the constitution. The outlet included commentary from a political science professor who suggested ballot measure decisions were split along party lines, with Republicans generally voting yes and Democrats voting no. It also featured quotes from voters discussing their reasons for casting ballots, including concerns about affordability and disappointment with national leaders.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The centre-rated digests focused on the Kansas constitutional amendment clarifying that only U.S. citizens can vote. KWCH12 Wichita News noted that this is already the law but some legislators wanted to make it clearer in the constitution. The digests from kctv5 and wibw.com stated that Kansas voters supported the amendment in the midterm election. The Hill reported that the measure was projected to pass and specified that it tweaks language in the state's constitution regarding citizenship voting requirements.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 33% are rated left, 67% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments biased?
- South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered South Dakota voters approve citizenship, unclaimed property amendments?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What constitutional amendments were approved in South Dakota?
- South Dakotans approved two amendments to their state constitution. One establishes a trust fund for unclaimed property, and the other emphasizes that non-citizens cannot vote in the state.
- What ballot issues did South Dakota voters reject?
- Voters in South Dakota rejected two ballot measures. One would have repealed Medicaid coverage if federal funding is removed, and the other would have required a 60% vote to amend the state constitution.
- What was the outcome of the Kansas voting amendment vote?
- Kansas voters approved a constitutional amendment that clarifies that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in the state. Proponents believe it will increase election confidence, while opponents suggest it could be used for voter suppression.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
2Centre
4- Kansans say ‘Yes’ to constitutional amendment on voter qualification language (opens KWCH12 Wichita News in a new tab)
KWCH12 Wichita News — is KWCH12 Wichita News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Kansas voters support citizenship voting requirement amendment (opens kctv5 in a new tab)
- Kansas votes in favor of constitutional amendment on voting laws (opens wibw.com in a new tab)
- Kansas approves language reaffirming citizenship voting requirement (opens The Hill in a new tab)
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
