Hughes was one of eight counties who had problems with the electronic pollbooks they used during yesterday’s (Tues.) primary election in South Dakota.
Hughes County finance officer Jane Naylor says they experienced sporadic loss of connectivity.
Other counties experiencing problems were Sully, Potter, Hyde, Brookings, Brown, Pennington and Yankton. These counties all use voting centers, meaning people can vote at any polling location rather than having to go to one specific place. Hughes and Pennington were the only two that had to delay closing polls because of the problem. In Hughes County the delay was 10 or 20 minutes, depending on location. Pennington County, however, had to delay closing polls for one hour and 45 minutes, causing release of results to be delayed statewide.
Naylor says the electronic pollbooks aren’t a new system.
Some of those counties switched to their back up plan of using paper voter registration lists and pollbooks. Others resolved the issues with the electronic pollbook vendor, Pierre business Bpro.
As for voter turnout in Hughes County?
Stanley County auditor Philena Burtch says they had 36 percent voter turnout there.
