Title 12, ELECTIONS

Any person registering to vote shall provide the person's valid South Dakota driver license number or a South Dakota nondriver identification number on the voter registration form. If a person does not have a valid South Dakota driver license or a South Dakota nondriver identific…

At the time voter registration information is transmitted from a county to the statewide voter registration file, the secretary of state shall verify the authenticity of the driver license number or the South Dakota nondriver identification number with the driver license database…

No person may employ, reward, or compensate any person to register voters based on the number of voters registered. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from hiring a person paid on an hourly or salaried basis to register voters. Any violation of this section is a Class 2…

No person may receive any wages, reward, or compensation for registering voters based on the number of voters registered. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from being employed on an hourly or salaried basis to register voters. Any violation of this section is a Class 2…

By March first of each year, the secretary of state shall submit a report to the State Board of Elections providing the number of voters removed from a county's voter registration list during the previous year due to inactivity, death, felony conviction, mental incompetence, relo…

On the first business day of each month and on the date of a primary, general, runoff, or special election in the state, the secretary of state shall publish on the official website of the secretary of state: (1) The total number of registered voters in each county of the state; …

A person registered to vote, pursuant to this chapter, may request that the auditor of the county in which the voter resides remove the person's name from the master registration list. If a person makes a request pursuant to this section less than fourteen days prior to an electi…

Within fifteen days after the close of each month, each clerk of court shall forward to the county auditor of the clerk's county information on any individual called for jury duty who is excused from jury duty because the individual has moved, has been convicted of a felony, has …

The secretary of state, a county auditor, or any individual registered as a voter of this state may file an application for the correction of any precinct registration list or to challenge the right to vote of any registered voter not later than the thirtieth day before the day o…

An application for the correction of any precinct registration list or to challenge the right to vote of any registered voter may be filed by the secretary of state, the auditor of the county where the challenged voter is registered, or any other individual who is registered as a…

An applicant for registration shall answer questions and sign the oath as required on the form prescribed by the State Board of Elections. An applicant for registration at a driver's license station shall also sign a signature card prescribed by the Department of Public Safety. T…

A voter registration shall be considered to be effective on the date which the card is received by the county auditor. However, if the card was completed at one of the agencies listed in § 12-4-2 , is received by the auditor within five days following any registration deadline an…

To file an application for correction, the individual must sign and file an affidavit attesting that, to the best of the individual's personal knowledge and belief, having exercised due diligence to personally verify the evidence presented, the challenged voter is not qualified t…

If a county auditor receives an application for correction, pursuant to § 12-4-60 , and, after researching the voter, determines the affidavit raises a valid challenge, the auditor must send a verification request to the voter named in the application. The verification request mu…

If a voter's registration is canceled, pursuant to § 12-4-61 , the voter may appeal the auditor's decision to the board of county commissioners or circuit court. Any decision of the board may be appealed to the circuit court. Source: SL 2025, ch 61 , § 5.

Records of an application of correction filed pursuant to § 12-4-60 must be retained by the county auditor for at least twenty-two months. Thereafter, if the auditor chooses to destroy the records, the records must be destroyed in a secure manner. Source: SL 2025, ch 61 , § 6.

Any local, state, or federal agency staff person who registers a voter shall ensure that the registration card, as prescribed by the State Board of Elections, is filled out completely. Source: SL 1975, ch 119 , § 14; SL 1976, ch 105 , § 5; SL 1978, ch 94 , § 2; SL 1985, ch 107 , …

For the purpose of expediting work of the county auditor, to promote uniformity in registration, and for the preparation of abstracts and other forms to be used by election boards, registration records shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections. The State Board of Electi…

In lieu of forms for registration prescribed under § 12-4-8 , requests for absentee ballots submitted in accordance with the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20301 et seq., as of January 1, 2023, are sufficient for registration purposes. The county…

Any voter whose name appears in the master registration file who makes written application to the county auditor for a duplicate acknowledgment notice, who has not received one or who has lost it, may receive a true copy of the card on file. Source: SL 1970, ch 86 , § 8; SDCL Sup…

The county auditor shall maintain and safeguard a digital master registration file that contains: (1) The information from the voter registration card of each individual registered to vote in the county; (2) The date of the last election at which the individual has voted; (3) The…

A person eligible to vote under § 12-4-1 may apply to the secretary of state to be listed in the master registration file with a secured active designation. The secretary of state shall certify a secured active designation if an applicant provides a sworn application that affirms…

Any personally identifiable information contained in the statewide or county master registration file is not available to the public if the information pertains to: (1) A current or retired state or federal court judge or justice; and (2) A law enforcement officer, as defined in …

A new political party may be organized and participate in the primary election by filing with the secretary of state not later than the last Tuesday of March at five p.m. prior to the date of the primary election, a written declaration signed by at least one percent of the voters…

A political party shall adopt a Constitution or a set of bylaws to govern its organization and the conduct of its affairs and exercise thereunder any power not inconsistent with laws of this state. The party central committee shall certify to and file with the secretary of state …

It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to promptly notify the county auditor of each county of the effect of any provision of a party Constitution or bylaw which affects an election to be conducted. Source: SL 1974, ch 118 , § 27.

If a political party qualifies for the primary ballot under § 12-5-1 , each candidate intending to participate in a primary election shall file a nominating petition pursuant to § 12-6-4 . In each primary election following the qualification of a political party and prior to the …

If a new political party organizing does not have a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, or Legislature, who is nominated at a primary election, the new political party may be organized by filing with the secretary of state not lat…

No person may employ, reward, or compensate any person to circulate a petition for the organization of a political party based on the number of registered voters who signed the petition. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from employing a petition circulator based on on…

The person receiving the highest number of votes of his or her party, shall be declared elected precinct committeeman and committeewoman respectively, of their party, and shall hold such position for two years, or until his or her successor is elected unless otherwise provided by…

The county central committee of a political party is comprised of precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen of the political party; the state committeemen and committeewomen; the county chairperson, vice-chairperson, and secretary-treasurer or secretary and treasurer; and…

The county central committee may fill vacancies in its membership, except for public officers, in accordance with the party's constitution or bylaws. Source: SL 1929, ch 118 , § 53; SL 1937, ch 120 , § 4; SDC 1939, § 16.0241; SL 1945, ch 76 ; SL 1949, ch 73 ; SL 1963, ch 107 , § …

Each political party shall hold a state convention in each even-numbered year for the purposes stated in § 12-5-21 . The state central committee of each political party shall determine the time and place of the convention. The chair of the committee shall notify the secretary of …

At the state convention of a political party, each delegate shall vote the number of votes equal to his proportionate representation as to all delegates present from that county bears to the number of votes cast in his county at the last gubernatorial election for his party candi…

Each political party may elect precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen at each primary election. If a party chooses to elect precinct committeemen and committeewomen at the primary election pursuant to §§ 12-5-4 to 12-5-13 , inclusive, the party shall provide for such e…

In a year when the Governor is to be elected, the delegates selected to participate in the state convention shall nominate candidates for attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands, and public utilities commission…

A candidate for Governor shall nominate a candidate for lieutenant governor by certifying the nomination to the secretary of state no later than five p.m. central time on the second Tuesday in August in the year of the election. The candidate for Governor and the candidate's nomi…

Nominations by a state convention shall be made by a majority vote of the votes cast and shall be certified to the secretary of state by the officers of the convention, within three days of the close of the convention. No certification may be received by the secretary of state la…

A political party with alternative political status may nominate a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, and any legislative seat by convention, if the nomination is submitted with the proper documentation to the Office of the Secre…

A new political party may nominate a candidate for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Governor, and any legislative seat by convention, if the nomination is submitted with the proper documentation to the Office of the Secretary of State no later than 5:…

If the bylaws of a political party do not prescribe a method of selecting a slate of delegates and alternates to the party's national convention, the slates of delegates and alternates to the national convention must be elected by the primary. The number of candidates comprising …

Under a petition filed under § 12-5-3.11 , the first nominating petition filed indicating a preference choice for any given person for President of the United States shall give the slate listed thereon the exclusive right to have their names appear on the ballot in preference of …

In any election conducted under §§ 12-5-3.11 and 12-5-3.12 , the slate that receives the most votes shall elect all of its delegates and alternates on that slate. Source: SL 1977, ch 107 , § 8.

Any candidate, committee, or group supporting a candidate in any presidential primary, shall, by the last Tuesday in March prior to the presidential primary election, notify the secretary of state of an intention to have the name of the candidate placed on the presidential primar…

The State Board of Elections may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to implement §§ 12-5-3.6 to 12-5-3.14 , inclusive. Source: SL 1977, ch 107 , § 9.

The chairperson of the national convention of each political party recognized pursuant to § 12-1-3 or 12-5-1 shall certify the names of the convention nominees for President and vice - president of each political party to the secretary of state immediately following the conventio…