Voting in South Dakota
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Voting policies are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. These policies, which include voter identification requirements, early voting provisions, online voter registration systems, and more, dictate the conditions under which American citizens cast their ballots in their individual states.
This page includes the following:
- Voter registration details, including methods of registering and requirements
- Details on voting in elections, including identification requirements, poll times, and primary election type
- Absentee/mail-in voting rules[1]
- Early voting rules
- Convicted felons' voting rights
- Election administration costs report
- Election agencies list
- Election policy ballot measures list
- Election policy legislation list
Voter registration
To register to vote in South Dakota, an applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of South Dakota, and at least 18 years old by the day of the next election.[2]
The deadline to register to vote is 15 days before the next election. To register, an applicant may submit a voter registration form to the county auditor. Prospective voters can also register in person at the county auditor's office, driver's license stations, certain public assistance agencies, or military recruitment offices.[2]
Automatic registration
South Dakota does not practice automatic voter registration.
Online registration
- See also: Online voter registration
South Dakota does not permit online voter registration.
Same-day registration
South Dakota does not allow same-day voter registration.
Residency requirements
To register to vote in South Dakota, you must be a resident of the state.
Verification of citizenship
South Dakota does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Verifying your registration
The South Dakota Secretary of State’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.
Voting in elections
Voter identification
- See also: Voter identification laws by state
South Dakota requires voters to present photo identification while voting.[3]
Voters can present the following forms of identification:
- South Dakota driver's license or nondriver ID card
- U.S. government photo ID
- U.S. passport
- U.S. Armed Forces ID
- Current student photo identification card from a South Dakota high school or South Dakota accredited institution of higher education
- Tribal photo ID
If a voter does not have a photo ID, he or she can sign a personal identification affidavit. The voter will then be given a regular ballot.
Background
As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.[4][5]
Poll times
- See also: State poll opening and closing times
In South Dakota, all polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If the polls close while you are still in line, you will be permitted to vote. South Dakota is divided between Central and Mountain time zones.[6]
Primary election type
- See also: Primary elections in South Dakota
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In South Dakota, the Democratic Party conducts a semi-closed primary, in which both registered party members and unaffiliated voters may participate. The Republican Party limits participation in its primary to registered party members.[7][8][9][10]
Absentee voting
- See also: Absentee voting
All voters are eligible to vote absentee in South Dakota. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.[11][12]
To vote absentee, an absentee ballot application must be received by county election officials no later than 5 p.m. the day before the election. A completed absentee ballot must then be received by election officials by the close of polls on Election Day.[13]
Early voting
- See also: Early voting
South Dakota permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.
As of April 2021, 38 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on election day. States that do not permit early voting still permit some or all citizens to vote early by mail—often known as absentee voting. Some states allow no-excuse absentee voting, while others require an excuse. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted among early voting states. Click here for early voting laws by state.[14]
Convicted felons' voting rights
- See also: Voting rights for convicted felons
In South Dakota, "a person convicted of a felony in either federal or state court on or after July 1, 2012 loses the right to vote. A person so disqualified becomes eligible to register to vote upon completion of his or her entire sentence (must complete probation, parole and restitution)," according to the South Dakota Secretary of State's office.[15] Click here for information about felony convictions on or before June 30, 2012.
Voting rights for convicted felons vary from state to state. In the majority of states, convicted felons cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[16][17]
Election administration costs
National Conference of State Legislatures report, 2018
On February 14, 2018, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released a report on the costs of election administration in the states: "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections." The report's authors noted that "no one knows how much [states] spend on elections ... [because] good research on election costs is slim." Generally, local units of government (most often counties, but sometimes cities and towns) are primarily responsible for election administration costs, though states and the federal government may also contribute. The report identified the states listed in the table below as assuming financial responsibility for at least some aspects of election administration.[18]
To access the complete NCSL report, click here.
| Election administration costs assumed by state | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State pays all expenses for federal or state elections | State bears a portion of election costs | State pays for statewide special elections or statewide elections that don’t coincide with regularly scheduled elections | State pays for primary elections (statewide, presidential, or both) |
| Alaska Delaware |
Alabama Colorado Hawaii Kentucky Louisiana Rhode Island |
Arkansas Florida Iowa Michigan Missouri New Jersey North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Tennessee Washington West Virginia |
Arizona Arkansas Idaho Kansas Michigan Minnesota Missouri South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington |
| Note: If a state is not listed above, it was not included in the report. Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018 | |||
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in South Dakota can contact the following state and federal agencies.
South Dakota Secretary of State
- Capitol Building
- 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204
- Pierre, South Dakota 57501-5070
- Telephone: 605-773-3537
- Email: elections@state.sd.us
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300
- Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
- Telephone: 866-747-1471
Election policy ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in South Dakota.
- South Dakota Change the Voting Age, Amendment B (1994)
- South Dakota Coffey Primary Election Law (1914)
- South Dakota Constitutional Amendment W, State Campaign Finance and Lobbying Laws, Government Accountability Board, and Initiative Process Amendment (2018)
- South Dakota Independent Candidates Election Law Referendum, Referred Law 19 (2016)
- South Dakota Initiated Measure 24, Ban Out-of-State Contributions to Ballot Question Committees Initiative (2018)
- South Dakota Limits on Lobbying, Initiative 10 (2008)
- South Dakota Nonpartisan Elections, Constitutional Amendment V (2016)
- South Dakota Nonpolitical Judicial Elections (1924)
- South Dakota Presidential Elections, Amendment G (1970)
- South Dakota Primary Election Law (1920)
- South Dakota Primary Elections Law (1924)
- South Dakota Residency Requirements, Amendment A (1970)
- South Dakota Revision of State Campaign Finance and Lobbying Laws, Initiated Measure 22 (2016)
- South Dakota Richard's Primary Election Law, Measure 1 (1912)
- South Dakota Richard's Primary Law (1916)
- South Dakota Richard's Primary Law (1918)
- South Dakota Right of Suffrage, Amendment B (1974)
- South Dakota Superintendents of Schools Elections (1936)
- South Dakota Top-Two Primary Initiative (2022)
- South Dakota Voting Age, Amendment A (1972)
- South Dakota Voting Age, Amendment F (1970)
- South Dakota Voting Residence (1958)
Election policy legislation
The following is a list of recent election bills that have been introduced in or passed by the South Dakota state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms South Dakota voting. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Elections in South Dakota
- South Dakota elections, 2022
- South Dakota elections, 2021
- South Dakota elections, 2020
- South Dakota elections, 2019
- South Dakota elections, 2018
- South Dakota elections, 2017
- South Dakota elections, 2016
- South Dakota elections, 2015
- South Dakota elections, 2014
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 South Dakota Secretary of State, “Register to Vote, Update Voter Registration or Cancel Voter Registration,” accessed October 5, 2019
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "General Voting Information," accessed October 7, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," June 5, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, “General Voting Information,” accessed October 17, 2019
- ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed October 25, 2019
- ↑ FairVote,"Primaries," accessed October 25, 2019
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett,"Elections and Voting," accessed October 25, 2019
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Voting by Absentee Ballot," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Absentee and Early Voting," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Long Distance Voter, "South Dakota Absentee Ballot Guide," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Laws Governing Early Voting," August 2, 2019
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Elections and Voting," accessed December 12, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ American Civil Liberties Union, "State Criminal Re-enfranchisement Laws," accessed September 13, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018
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