Ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election, South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson would like to remind voters of the safeguards and security built into the state’s election processes.
In order to ensure the integrity of its elections, South Dakota does NOT have online voter registration. When a person registers to vote, local county auditors review the information provided before their registration is official. A person MUST be a U.S. citizen to register to vote. All voters go through numerous checks to ensure they are actually eligible to vote.
South Dakota has strong voter ID laws to ensure the integrity of its elections. Voters must be verified BEFORE casting a ballot. South Dakota requires a photo ID at the polls and on absentee ballot request forms. Voters must present one of the following IDs:
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A South Dakota driver’s license or nondriver ID card.
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A passport or an identification card including a picture issued by an agency of the United States government.
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A tribal identification card including a picture.
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A current student identification card including a picture issued by a high school or an accredited institution of higher education located within the State of South Dakota.
If a voter does not have an acceptable ID, they must be given the opportunity to sign a personal affidavit in which they state under the penalty of perjury that they are the person they have declared they are.
ONLY paper ballots are used in South Dakota. South Dakota does NOT allow ballot drop boxes. Marked ballots are placed into a sealed and secure locked ballot box that is delivered by two poll workers of different political parties to the county auditor’s office after the polls are closed. All ballots are removed from the ballot box in public view and put into the tabulating machine, which is NOT connected to the internet. All machines are publicly tested prior to election day.
“By using only paper ballots, not connecting tabulating machines to the internet, requiring photo ID, conducting post-election audits, and encouraging South Dakota citizens to volunteer as poll watchers and work as election workers helps to ensure that South Dakota has safe and secure elections,” stated Johnson.
South Dakota will also be conducting post-election audits. State law calls for an audit that reviews voted ballots in five percent of voting precincts, comparing the paper record to the results produced by the voting system. The post-election audit in South Dakota will be conducted manually by HAND-COUNTING. “Post-election audits promote election transparency and provide verification of election results,” said Johnson.
More information on election integrity in South Dakota can be found on the Secretary of State’s website: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/election-resources/Election-Truth-and-Transparency-Page/default.aspx.
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