VOTE IN SOUTH DAKOTA

for 2024 General Election

Tuesday, November 5th

VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE:

Monday, October 21st, 2024 (Mail, In-Person)

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO REGISTER TO VOTE?

• VOTER REGISTRATION: MAIL

  All voters wishing to vote in 2024 General Election must be registered to vote by Monday, October 21st. You can download and print the voter registration application, and send it to your local election officials.

• VOTER REGISTRATION: IN PERSON

  All voters wishing to vote in 2024 General Election must be registered to vote by Monday, October 21st. You may register to vote at your driver’s license station when receiving assistance, City Finance Offices, or other Military recruitment offices. 

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO VOTE?

• VOTE IN PERSON

  Polling place hours: 7 am – 7 pm

  All voters must show proof of identification. This includes a 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, or a 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.

• VOTE EARLY (IN PERSON)

  In-person absentee is available in South Dakota. The list of election offices can be found here. Registered voters can vote in-person once absentee voting begins at their local election 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.

  In-person absentee will take place from September 20th to November 4th, 2024.

• VOTE BY MAIL

  All registered voters in South Dakota may apply to vote absentee for the general election this year. You may request the absentee ballot by 5pm on November 4th. 

  • Your mail-in ballot must be received by your county auditor on November 5th in enough time to deliver your ballot to your voting precinct before the polls close (7pm).
  • Contact your county auditor office for more information.

  If you need to change any information on your voter registration, you may do so at this link by October 21st.

MORE INFORMATION FOR SOUTH DAKOTA VOTERS

• Positions on the Ballot: 2024 General Election

  U.S. PRESIDENT
  A U.S. President serves a term of 4 years. Below are the candidates to be voted in the 2024 Presidential Election. Incumbents are denoted with an asterisk (*).
  ▹ Kamala Harris & Tim Walz (D) vs Donald Trump & J. D. Vance (R)

  U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – AT LARGE
  A U.S. House Representative serves a term of 2 years. South Dakota’s at-large congressional district is on the ballot. Find your congressional district on the U.S. House of Representatives website. Below are the candidates to be voted in the 2024 General Election. Incumbents are denoted with an asterisk (*).
  ▹ At-large District: Sheryl Johnson (D) vs. Dusty Johnson* (R)

  STATE SENATE
  All positions in the 35 South Dakota state senate districts are on the ballot. Find your legislative district on the South Dakota State Legislature website.

  STATE REPRESENTATIVE
  All positions in the 70 South Dakota state senate districts are on the ballot. Find your legislative district on the South Dakota State Legislature website.

  PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIONER
  The Public Utilities Commissioner is elected for a six-year term during the same year as a presidential election. They may seek re-election to a second -year term. 

  STATE SUPREME COURT
  South Dakota will hold an election for its State Supreme Court in the 2024 General Election. Out of five justices, there is one seat up for an eight-year term election. 

  MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
  South Dakota will hold a City Commission election for the City of Pierre. 

  BALLOT MEASURES
  There are seven statewide ballot measures that will appear on South Dakota’s 2024 General Election ballot. 
  ▹Constitutional Amendment #1: Amend the constitution to change male pronouns in the Constitution to gender-neutral terms or titles
  ▹Constitutional Amendment #2: Amend the South Dakota Constitution to provide that the state “may impose a work requirement on any person … who has not been diagnosed as being physically or mentally disabled” for eligible individuals to receive Medicaid under the Medicaid expansion that took effect on July 1, 2023
  ▹Constitutional Amendment #3:  Provide for a state constitutional right to abortion with a trimester framework for regulations
  ▹Constitutional Amendment #4: Establish top-four primaries for federal, state, and certain local offices in South Dakota
  ▹Initiated Measure #1: Prohibit state sales taxes on anything sold for human consumption, not including alcoholic beverages or prepared food
  ▹Initiated Measure #2: Legalize the recreational or personal use of marijuana
  ▹Referendum #1: Uphold or repeal Senate Bill 201, a law that provides statutory requirements for regulating carbon dioxide pipelines and other transmission facilities, and allows counties to impose a surcharge on certain pipeline companies

  A complete list of all positions, candidates, and ballot measures can be found on the South Dakota Secretary of State website. Information on all positions and candidates for local elections will be provided by each county’s election office.

• Provisional Ballot

  A provisional ballot is a regular ballot that is placed in a special envelope prior to being put in the ballot box. It is available for the voters whose identification is not verified at a polling place. A provisional ballot may be offered to those who believe they are registered to vote even though their names are not on the official voter registration list at the polling place and those who applied to vote by mail but would like to cast a vote in person.

  Every voter who casts a provisional ballot has the right to find out from their local election official if the ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why it was not counted. You will be sent a notice within 13 days whether your ballot was counted or not counted. If the ballot was not counted, you will be told of the reason.

• College Students & Voters Overseas

  Students in South Dakota living away from home while attending a college, trade school, or technical school may choose to vote in absentee ballot.

  If you are a student living temporarily outside the United States, you can register to vote and apply to vote by mail using the Federal Post Card Application (Absentee Ballot) that is used by all other South Dakota voters who are living abroad.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN SOUTH DAKOTA?

  You must be a United States citizen and 18 years old on or before the date of the general election. You must be a resident of South Dakota. You must not be currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction which includes imprisonment, served or suspended, in an adult penitentiary system. You must not be judged mentally incompetent by a court of law.

• How often do I need to register to vote?

  You are required to register to vote only once. However, if information like your name or address changes, you need to fill out the voter registration form again to keep your voter information up to date. Check your voter registration information at this link.

• Which party should I be affiliated with?

  KAGC does not endorse any party or candidate; as such KAGC does not guide anyone to vote for, or be affiliated with, any specific party. In most parts of the United States, the Republican Party and Democratic Party are two major political parties. Throughout U.S. history, 19 presidents have been Republican (including Presidents Lincoln, Reagan, Bush, and Trump) and 14 have been Democrats (including Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama) You may find more information on their respective websites.

  When registering to vote, it is not mandatory for a voter to declare party affiliation. However, in some states including South Dakota, primary elections are open to those voters with party affiliation, in which case you may vote only in the primary election of the party you are affiliated with. Should you remain unaffiliated, South Dakota state law permits political parties to choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters or voters not registered with the party to participate in their nominating contests before each election cycle.

• Am I limited to vote for the party I'm affiliated with?

  In the primary election in South Dakota, only voters with a party affiliation are allowed to vote for their party’s nominees. Voters unaffiliated with any party may participate in the primaries of a party, depending on party-specific policies for this election. In the general election, however, voters are free to vote for any candidate of their choice for each position on the ballot.

• What is this year's election about?

  On top of the ballot across the U.S. this year will be the candidates for U.S. President. In South Dakota, there are also candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, State Public Utilities Commissioner, South Dakota State Senate, South Dakota State House of Representatives, State Supreme Court, as well as a municipal position. For more information, please see the section above on this page.

• What is my district? Who is running in my district?

  To find your congressional district, visit the U.S. House of Representatives website and enter your zip code in the search bar on the top right-hand corner of the main page. For information on your South Dakota legislative district, please visit the South Dakota State Legislature website.

• Must I vote for each position on the ballot?

  Voters are not required to vote for every single position listed on the ballot. You may skip any position you do not support any candidate for, and you may also write-in a candidate of your choice not listed on the ballot. In the general election, voters may also vote for any candidate of preference regardless of party affiliations.

• What happens if I move?

  Every time there is a change in your address, whether in-state or out of state, you must update the information by filling out a voter registration form. Government agencies often mail election-related information to your address on file, which sometimes requires a prompt response. When a response is missing for a certain period of time, your voter registration may be considered inactive and is subject to elimination.

• I registered to vote a long time ago. What should I do now?

  Please visit this website to check your voter registration status, as well as the information on your voter registration. If your status is inactive, your information does not appear, or any of your information is inaccurate, please fill out the voter registration form and submit it by the deadline.

• Does voting lead to a mandatory jury duty?

  No. Voter registration and jury duty have no correlation with each other. Jury duty selection is made based on a different database than the voter roll.