South Dakota Leads in Election Reforms

Non-partisan election group moves SD into a national leadership position.

The U.S. has a history of election challenges whether it was hanging chads in Florida in 2000 (benefited Republicans) or voting machine issues in Arizona in 2022 (benefited Democrats).

After noting irregularities that appeared to impact both Democrats and Republicans, a non-partisan group of citizens came together to improve election integrity in South Dakota. They formed a group called South Dakota Canvassing. This legislative session this group and a team of legislators moved South Dakota into the national limelight with a slew of reforms that make the state’s elections more secure and transparent.

Before the reforms, South Dakota had many gaps in its election process. While there is still more to do, the state made big strides this legislative session. One of the biggest victories was legislation that makes it harder for people who live out of state to vote in our elections.

The group prepared a scorecard that summarizes how we did. The following people were instrumental in the changes: Jessica Pollema and the South Dakota Canvassing team; Leah Anderson, Minnehaha County Auditor; and a large group of Legislators including:💥 Bobbi Andera 💥Julie Auch 💥Aaron Aylward 💥Heather Baxter 💥 Greg Blanc 💥John Carley 💥Josephine Garcia 💥Spencer Gosch 💥Taffy Howard 💥John Hughes 💥Jana Hunt 💥Travis Ismay 💥 Kevin Jensen 💥Phil Jensen 💥Dylan Jordan 💥Terri Jorgensen 💥Tony Kayser 💥 Mark Lapka 💥Logan Manhart 💥Liz May 💥Tina Mulally 💥 Lauren Nelson 💥Kaley Nolz 💥Al Novstrup 💥 Sue Peterson 💥Tom Pischke 💥Tony Randolph 💥Christopher Reder 💥Kathy Rice 💥Brandi Schaefbauer 💥Tesa Schwans 💥John Sjaarda 💥Bethany Soye 💥 Mykala Voita 🥁Mike Derby 🥁Tim Goodwin 🥁Jon Hansen 🥁Leslie Heinemann 🥁Joy Hohn 🥁Karla Lems 🥁Sam Marty 🥁Scott Moore 🥁Curt Voight