Voter Registration
Registration Deadline: Your Voter Registration form with an original signature must be received by the auditor 15 days before any election if you wish to vote in that election.
South Dakota law does not allow you to submit your voter registration form via fax or email.
Party Affiliation: In a Primary election, a voter is given only the ballot for the party which the voter is registered in, except for voters registered as an Independent or No Party Affiliation (NPA). The South Dakota Democratic Primary is open to registered Democrats and Independents/No Party Affiliation voters, but not Republicans. The South Dakota Libertarian Primary is closed to only registered Libertarians. The South Dakota Republican Primary is closed to only registered Republicans.
If you decide to change your party affiliation, you must update your voter registration by completing a voter registration form, then mail or return to your County Auditor.
Voter Registration Qualifications
Age: At least 18 years old on or before the day of the election
Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen
Residency: Must be a resident of South Dakota (residency qualifications for registering to vote)
Mental Competency: Must not be judged mentally incompetent by a court of law
Felony Convictions: Not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction which included imprisonment, served or suspended, in an adult penitentiary system. For more information click here
ID Requirements: South Dakota Driver license number or last 4 digits of Social Security number required.
Obtaining a Voter Registration Form
In person: You may register at the following locations:
- Driver's license station (when you are renewing or applying for a driver's license you may also register to vote on the driver's license application)
- City Finance Office
- Public assistance agencies providing food stamps, TANF or WIC
- Department of Human Services offices which provide assistance to the disabled
- Military recruitment offices
By mail/ in writing: Mail a printable form to your county auditor's office.
South Dakota law does not allow you to submit your voter registration form via fax or email.
Verifying Your Voter Registration Status
Online: Voter Registration Verification
Phone: Call the Secretary of State or your local County Auditor.
Obtaining an Absentee Ballot
In person: Obtain an absentee ballot application form online or at your county election official's office and return it to your county election official's office.
By mail: You may download and print an absentee ballot application and send it to your County Election Official.
Email/Fax: Only voters covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act can submit their application for absentee ballot via fax or email.
The County Election Official must receive your application for an absentee ballot no later than 5pm the day before the election.
Military and overseas voting: Military voter information and Overseas Civilian Voter information
Submitting an Absentee Ballot
Location and time: All voted absentee ballots must be returned to your county auditor's office. Registered voters can vote in-person once Absentee Voting begins at their County Auditor's office by bringing along a valid photo identification card (ID). If a voter does not have a photo ID, they must be given the option to sign a personal identification affidavit and vote a regular ballot.
Your voted ballot MUST be received by your County Election Official on Election Day in enough time to deliver your ballot to your voting precinct before the polls close.
VOTING ON ELECTION DAY
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.
All voters who appear at a polling place must show proof of identification. Approved forms of photo identification include:
-South Dakota driver's license or non driver ID card
-U.S. government photo ID (passport is acceptable)
-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 you do not have a photo ID, you can sign a personal identification affidavit, and will still be allowed to vote a regular ballot.
Additional Information
Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org
Polling Place: Polling Place Locator
How to Vote: Sample Ballots
Problems with voting: If you have trouble voting, you may call the County Auditor's office call the Secretary of State’s Office at 605-773-3537,or email [email protected] or [email protected]
Provisional VotingThe purpose of a provisional ballot is to protect a person's right to vote when his or her name has wrongly been omitted from the voter registration list. The provisional ballot is sealed in a special envelope which is not opened on election night. The provisional ballot is only counted if documentation can be located after election day proving that the person was properly registered to vote in that precinct.
Contact your local County Auditor's Office for more information.
Verifying absentee ballot status: Absentee Ballot Verification
This Amendment would remove gendered pronouns used in the South Dakota Constitution for certain offices and replace them with the title instead.
For example, in reference to the position of Governor, the text would read, "the Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the state," instead of what it currently is, "he shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the state."
Amends the South Dakota Constitution to provide that the state may impose a work requirement on eligible individuals who are not diagnosed as being mentally or physically disabled in order to receive Medicaid under the Medicaid expansion that took effect on July 1, 2023.
Constitutional Amendment G would provide a trimester framework for legalizing and regulating abortion in the South Dakota Constitution.
During the first trimester of pregnancy, the state would be prohibited from regulating a woman's decision to have an abortion. During the second trimester of pregnancy, the state may regulate abortion, but "only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman." And during the third trimester of pregnancy, the state may regulate or prohibit abortion, except "when abortion is necessary, in the medical judgment of the woman's physician, to preserve the life and health of the pregnant woman."
Currently, to appear on the general election ballot, major party candidates for the following offices must participate in a partisan primary election: Governor, State Legislature, U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and elected county offices. Only member's of the candidate's party may vote for that candidate unless that party has opened the primary to voters not affiliated with the party.
Minor party candidates may be chosen by primary or party convention.
Unaffiliated candidates (independents) are only required to file nominating petitions to appear on the general election ballot.
For the listed offices, this amendment requires one primary election wherein all candidates run against each other in their respective races, including major and minor party and unaffiliated candidates. A candidate may list any party next to their name on the ballot regardless of party affiliation or registration. All voters may vote for any candidate. The two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the general election. If there is more than one candidate to be elected to an office, the number advancing to the general election is twice the number to be elected.
Primary elections may be held for other offices.
The amendment may be challenged on constitutional grounds.
Attorney General's Explanation: Currently, the State collects tax on the sale or use of certain goods, including foods and drinks. Many municipalities also collect these taxes. This initiated measure prohibits the State from collecting sales or use tax on anything sold for human consumption. The measure eliminates these sources of revenue for the State. Human consumption is not defined by state law. However, its common definition includes more than foods and drinks. The measure does not prohibit the collection of sales or use tax on alcoholic beverages or prepared food. Prepared food is defined by law to include food that is sold heated or with utensils. The measure may affect the State's obligations under the tobacco master settlement agreement and the streamlined sales tax agreement. The master settlement agreement resulted from multi-state lawsuits against cigarette manufacturers for the public health effects of smoking. South Dakota's annual share of the master settlement agreement is approximately $20 million. The streamlined sales tax agreement is a multistate program designed to simplify the collection of sales and use tax for companies selling in multiple jurisdictions. Judicial or legislative clarification of the measure will be necessary.
Fiscal Note: Beginning July 1, 2025, the State could see a reduction in sales tax revenues of $123.9 million annually from no longer taxing the sale of anything sold for human consumption, except alcoholic beverages and prepared food. Municipalities could continue to tax anything sold for human consumption.
This initiated measure allows individuals 21 years of age or older to possess, grow, ingest, and distribute marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia. Individuals may possess up to two ounces of marijuana in a form other than marijuana concentrate or other marijuana products. Individuals may possess up to six marijuana plants with no more than twelve plants per household. The measure also places limits on the possession of other forms of marijuana and marijuana products.
Under the measure, the possession, ingestion, and distribution of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia remains illegal for individuals under the age of 21. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal.
The measure restricts where individuals may possess or consume marijuana, such as schools or where tobacco is prohibited.
The measure allows employers to restrict an employee's use of marijuana. Property owners may also regulate the use of marijuana on their property.
The measure does not affect State laws dealing with hemp. It also does not change laws concerning the State's medical marijuana program.
The measure legalizes marijuana-derived substances considered felony controlled substances under State law. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Judicial or legislative clarification of this measure may be necessary.
