Title 12, ELECTIONS

If any person attempting to vote in any election claims to be registered or any person attempting to vote in any election claims to be in the inactive registration file but does not possess an acknowledgment notice and the person's name does not appear in the registration list of…

Any person whose name appears on the inactive registration list in the possession of the precinct superintendent may vote in any election following completion of an affirmation of the person's address in this state. If the voter has moved to a new address within the state, this a…

The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 setting the number of poll watchers which are allowed in each polling place. Source: SL 1975, ch 124 , § 2; SL 1998, ch 78 , § 2.

Any candidate, party, or ballot question committee may have poll watchers present at a polling place for the purpose of observing the voting and counting process. During voting hours, a candidate who is on the ballot being voted on may not serve as a poll watcher and may only be …

The superintendent of elections may order poll watchers and voters waiting to vote to position themselves where the poll watchers and voters cannot see into voting booths, read identifying numbers on photo identification cards, or interfere with voters in the act of voting or wit…

Each election officer and all law enforcement officers shall remove materials in violation of § 12-18-3 and disobedient persons in violation of § 12-18-9.1 and arrest any person so interfering with the conduct of the election. Source: SL 1897, ch 60 , § 39; RPolC 1903, § 1923; RC…

A registered voter who is not otherwise disqualified by law from voting in the election may vote by absentee ballot. Source: SDC 1939, § 16.0606; SL 1944 (SS), ch 2 , § 1; SL 1953, ch 75 , § 1; SL 1957, ch 85 , § 1; SDC Supp 1960, § 16.0610; SL 1963, ch 110 , § 1; SL 1967, ch 72 …

A voter in the inactive registration file meeting the criteria in § 12-19-1 may vote absentee by completing the affirmation required in § 12-18-7.4 . Source: SL 1994, ch 107 , § 31; SL 2002, ch 40 , § 17.

Absentee voting shall begin neither earlier nor later than forty-six days prior to the election including any voter identified as being covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1). Source: SL 2013, ch 66 , § 2.

No person may distribute an absentee ballot application to a voter that is prefilled with the voter's name and registration address. This provision does not apply to a person who is authorized to request an absentee ballot for a voter or a person assisting a voter who requires as…

Upon receipt of the sealed return envelope containing the voted ballots, the person in charge of the election or their designee shall mark the date of receipt on the envelope. The person in charge of the election shall keep the absentee ballot in a safe place without opening the …

If a county uses an absentee ballot precinct at the building where the county auditor is located to process absentee ballots on election day for a federal, state, or county election, the county has the option to validate the absentee ballot signatures in the county auditor's offi…

The written application and official return envelope shall be preserved by the election officers and returned by them to the proper office together with the other election returns. Source: SL 1913, ch 200 , § 3; RC 1919, § 7228; SL 1925, ch 159 , § 3; SL 1929, ch 114 , § 2; SDC 1…

If an absentee ballot is delivered to a polling place, absentee counting board, or the office of the person in charge of the election after the polls are closed in the county or local jurisdiction, the absentee ballot may not be counted or opened. Source: SDC 1939, § 16.0608 as a…

Any voter who, having procured an official ballot or a Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act ballot link as provided in §§ 12-19-1 to 12-19-1 2, inclusive, intentionally disposes of a ballot in any manner other than as provided in those sections or provides the ball…

A voter desiring to vote by mail may apply to the person in charge of the election for an absentee ballot. The application or request must be made in writing, signed by the applicant, and must contain the applicant's voter registration address. The application or request must con…

At any time prior to an election, a voter may apply for an absentee ballot in person at the office of and to the person in charge of the election during regular office hours or until five p.m. on the day before the election, whichever is later. If the voter applies in person, the…

If a person is an authorized messenger for more than one voter, the person must notify the person in charge of the election of all voters for whom that person is a messenger. The person in charge of the election shall keep a record of the authorized messenger requesting an absent…

Any voter identified as being covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20301 et seq., as of January 1, 2023, may submit an application or request for an absentee ballot by facsimile or emailed image to the person in charge of the election. T…

If any voter who had previously filed an application or request for an absentee ballot submits another application or request for the same election with an updated address, the county auditor shall send an absentee ballot to the new address. If any voter who had previously filed …

The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , to prescribe the absentee application form and a combined absentee ballot application form and return envelope for absentee voting in the office of the person in charge of the election. The applicatio…

If an absentee voter in a primary election is registered as an independent and is eligible to vote more than one ballot style pursuant to § 12-6-26 , the voter may specify the voter's ballot style preference on the absentee ballot application. If no ballot style is designated, th…

Upon receiving an application for absentee ballots, the person in charge of an election shall, within forty-eight hours, or if ballots are not then on hand, then within forty-eight hours after receipt of the ballots, after confirming from the master registration file that the app…

The exercise of the right of censorship by the federal authorities upon the marked ballot while same is in transit in the mail, shall not invalidate the ballot or be cause for its rejection. Source: SL 1944 (SS), ch 2 , § 8; SDC Supp 1960, § 16.0617.

Any person who, having procured an official ballot or ballots for another, intentionally fails to deliver the ballots to the voter or who intentionally fails to deliver the return envelope with ballots contained therein to the proper officer, or who tampers with the envelope or b…

No mere informality in the matter of carrying out or executing the provisions of this chapter shall invalidate the election or authorize the rejection of the returns thereof, and the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed for the purposes herein expressed or inte…

The person in charge of the election may create an absentee ballot precinct. Except as otherwise provided by this section, if the person in charge of the election creates an absentee ballot precinct, all absentee ballots cast at the election must be forwarded to the absentee ball…

The county auditor shall appoint the absentee ballot counting board in the manner prescribed in chapter 12-15 , except that the number of election officials on the absentee ballot counting board shall be sufficient to complete the counting of ballots within a reasonable time. Sou…

Each election official of the absentee ballot counting board shall take the oath required by § 12-15-9 and shall be paid as provided by § 12-15-11 . Source: SL 1976, ch 108 , § 3.

The return envelope for the absentee ballot must have printed on the reverse thereof a statement to be signed by the voter. The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , prescribing the forms for the return envelope, ballots, and instructions to …

Except as otherwise specified in §§ 12-19-37 to 12-19-52 , inclusive, the powers and duties of an absentee ballot counting board are the same as those of precinct election officials in a regular precinct polling place. An absentee counting board shall: (1) Receive, from the perso…

Upon receipt of the sealed return envelope containing the voted ballots, the person in charge of the election shall keep it in a safe place without opening the envelope or breaking the seal thereof. The person in charge of the election shall cause to be delivered to the absentee …

If in the judgment of the person in charge of the election it is necessary to convene the absentee counting board prior to the closing of the polls on election day, the person in charge of the election may direct the board to meet during regular business hours on the day before t…

The process of sorting, validating, processing, and counting absentee ballots must be open to poll watchers for the purpose of observing the process. A poll watcher shall keep a reasonable distance from ballots and identification information to protect the privacy of absentee vot…

The person in charge of the election shall preserve a record of the name, post office address, and voting precinct of each applicant for an absentee ballot and shall personally deliver the record to the absentee ballot counting board. The person in charge of the election shall ke…

If the absentee ballot counting board did not begin to process or tabulate the absentee ballots on election day prior to the closing of the polls, pursuant to § 12-19-43 , the board must immediately, upon the close of the polls, commence: (1) Processing each absentee ballot, purs…

The envelope containing the enclosures, if not delivered to the voter personally by the person in charge of the election or the authorized messenger filing the voter's request for an absentee ballot, must, except for federal service voters, be mailed by first class mail to the ad…

The tally shall be recorded on forms prescribed by the State Board of Elections. A special pollbook shall also be prescribed by the State Board of Elections. Except as provided by § 12-19-52 , the tally shall be recorded according to the precincts in which the voters are register…

In those counties which have adopted an electronic voting system, counting shall be as prescribed in chapter 12-17B . Source: SL 1976, ch 108 , § 8.

If a county contracts for the services of a county auditor from another county, that county auditor shall make absentee ballots available in the contracting county if the contracting county requests that absentee ballots be provided. The contracting county shall reimburse the cou…

No person may employ, reward, or compensate any person to assist voters based on the number of voters assisted. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from hiring a person paid on an hourly or salaried basis to assist voters. Any violation of this section is a Class 1 misde…

No person may receive any wages, reward, or compensation for assisting voters based on the number of voters assisted. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from being employed on an hourly or salaried basis to assist voters. Any violation of this section is a Class 1 misde…

A voter voting an absentee ballot shall mark it and fold it without revealing the marks to any other person. The voter shall place the voted ballots in the return envelope provided and seal the envelope. The voter shall sign the statement on the return envelope. The voter shall r…

No person who is a candidate for any elective office, except for political party offices described in § 12-5-2 or county auditor or such deputy, at the election for which the ballot or ballots are to be voted, may serve as an authorized messenger. A violation of this section is a…

No authorized messenger may, in the presence of the voter at or before the time of voting, display campaign posters, signs, or other campaign materials or by any like means solicit any votes for or against any person, political party, or position on a question submitted. A violat…

An authorized messenger shall deliver the absentee ballot to the office of the person in charge of the election unless there is not sufficient time for the person in charge of the election to transmit the absentee ballot to the voter's home precinct or a vote center as prescribed…