PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – Early and absentee voting for the June 2 primary election will be delayed, several election officials in South Dakota said Wednesday.
Early voting is supposed to begin on Friday, but some county auditors across the state alerted the public this week of the delay. No one knew how long the delay will be, but said they hope it will not last longer than April 24.
The delay is due to a shortened window this year between the deadline for candidates to file their nominating petitions and the beginning of early voting.
To earn a place on the ballot, prospective statewide candidates from political parties had to gather the required number of petition signatures from registered voters and file them by the last Tuesday in March. Through a quirk of the calendar, that fell on March 31 this year, leaving 17 days before the beginning of early voting for the review and certification of petitions and the printing of ballots.
Early and absentee voting is required by state law to begin no later than 46 days before the election, and ballots must be printed 48 days before.
Pennington County Auditor Sabrina Green, in Rapid City, said counties cannot print ballots until the state has certified all candidates for the ballot.
“We don’t have a choice if we don’t have ballots,” Green said.
Green said the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office also has one outstanding nomination petition challenge holding up the process. Green did not know which race was affected or any other details. The Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about the delay.
Green and other election officials are encouraging voters to call their local county auditor office before they travel to their early voting center. South Dakotans can also check their county website elections page and social media.
“It’s a sticky situation, and we’re sorry voters are put in this place, but we’re working as diligently as we can to get everything here,” Green said.
Green is “still working out” if she can make accommodations for voters impacted by the potential delay, such as extending weekday hours or opening voting on the weekend. In the meantime, she plans to offer absentee ballot request forms to people who try to vote early. The office will then “mail them a ballot as soon as we get it in.”
In Brown County, which includes Aberdeen, Auditor Lynn Heupel said she plans to alert residents via an emergency management text notification when early voting is available. Douglas County Auditor Phyllis Barker, in Armour, said she plans to do the same, if approved by the Douglas County emergency manager.
Barker said her office has been accused of attempting election fraud because of the delay.
“This is really out of our hands,” Barker said, adding that the Legislature sets the deadlines in law and the Secretary of State’s Office handles petition verification, challenges and certification. “We all saw this coming, but now we’re the ones who are trying to make this work.”
Auditors have been warning lawmakers and county officials for years of the potential for delay, Barker said.
“I think it was impossible to do this election cycle,” Barker said.
Lawmakers reacted to those warnings earlier this year by changing the nominating petition deadline to the third Tuesday in March. But they were concerned about changing the deadline for a petition process that was already underway, so they made the change effective for future elections, not the current one.
Every auditor that South Dakota Searchlight spoke with plans to pay for expedited and overnight shipping of ballots, which could cost counties thousands of dollars.
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota criticized the early voting delay in a statement Wednesday, calling it a “barrier to democracy.” The organization called on the Secretary of State’s Office to extend the deadline to return absentee ballots, provide transparent and real-time tracking so voters know the status of their ballots, and launch an independent review of how changes to state elections laws over the past few years are impacting preparedness for early voting.
In the 2024 election, 211 South Dakotans voted on the first day of early and absentee voting. By the end of the first week, 1,857 people had cast their ballots.
This year’s June 2 primary election includes Republican primaries for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and legislative primaries. Voters may also have local races and issues on their ballots.
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