South Dakotans Deserve Modern Voter Registration

Sioux Falls — 610,789 South Dakotans were registered voters as of September 3, 2024. Each registered voter is a citizen of South Dakota that has chosen to participate in our democratic system, but not every voting-eligible citizen is registered. In fact, South Dakota’s voter registration rate – 82.5% of eligible voters are registered – is below the national average and ranks thirty-eighth out of the 51 states and Washington DC.

Why Registration Matters

Often, the voter registration rate among eligible voters can be a proxy for democratic health, when used alongside other metrics like voter turnout. In this specific measurement, South Dakota lags behind our peer states.

This is not to say that South Dakota is bad at registering voters. We have a low rejection rate for registration attempts, provide online methods of checking one’s registration, and enforce clear registration requirements. All of these factors are indicators of healthy electoral systems.

How Could we Improve Voter Registration?

However, there are issues in our voter registration laws and system when compared against best practices for election administration. For instance, South Dakotans cannot register to vote online, a policy which voters enjoy in 42 other states. Most states use online registration in addition to paper systems, and the policy has resulted in cost-savings for election offices and more accurate voter rolls.

Online voter registration follows the same steps as paper registration, the only difference is that information is transmitted through a secure online portal – just like the Secretary of State’s voter information portal. In a paper-only system, county auditor employees must transcribe handwritten voter registration forms onto their county’s (often computerized) voter rolls, taking time to decipher handwriting and enter information manually. It’s simply a waste of resources, both in extra labor time and in printing costs.

South Dakota already has the capability to implement online voter registration. We began electronically transmitting DMV registrations in 2006, and the motor voter system went paperless in 2012. The specific policy of paperless registration at the DMV caused a 6x increase in South Dakota voters registered through the program.

Online Registration is a Potential Answer

Online voter registration would ease the burdens voters face in less populous counties. In Jones County, likely by financial necessity, the auditor’s office is only open twenty five hours a week. Compare that to the fully staffed offices in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties (both open forty hours a week), and anyone can see unequal access to voter registration. Rural voters can face drive times over an hour one-way to visit their county auditor. Factor in the unreliability of mail service in some rural portions of South Dakota and in-person registration becomes a requirement for many first time voters.

So how does online voter registration work? In most states that have online registration, registering online requires the exact same things as a paper registration – a social security number, a valid in-state driver’s license or state ID card, and residency within the state.

Since state law already requires that every voter’s eligibility is verified before being placed on the rolls, and that substantial portions of our voter registration records and processes are already computerized, online voter registration would be a logical step for South Dakota to modernize its electoral system.

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