SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELOLAND) — There’s fewer names on the state’s voter rolls, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety and Secretary of State’s office.
In a news release Monday, officials said “273 noncitizens are being removed from the South Dakota voter roll.”
According to the release, DPS found the need for the correction and worked with “the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to implement a fix.”
Secretary of State Monae Johnson said election integrity is the highest priority.
“We are proud of the thorough work done to safeguard South Dakota’s voter rolls,” Johnson said in a news release. “We worked closely with DPS to resolve this issue, and we’re constantly working to make sure that only eligible citizens are participating in our elections.”
According to the SOS, there are 617,396 active voters and a total of 682,031 registered voters in the state.
South Dakota has a 30-day residency requirement on its voter registration forms. South Dakota allows full-time travelers to be South Dakota residents if they spend one night in the state. Many list post office boxes at locations around the state as their place of residency as they travel. The locations serve as areas where mail can be sent and then forwarded on to the full-time traveler resident or where the traveler can pick up the mail.
ACLU of South Dakota released the following statement demanding those purged to be back in the system.
“Voting is a sacred right and responsibility that is bestowed to American citizens — including naturalized American citizens. While the state can make individualized inquiries into specific voters with evidence to support its claims that an individual is not legally eligible to vote, it cannot enact blanket purges based on potentially inaccurate databases this close to the election,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “The risk of disenfranchising eligible voters at this late stage is simply too high when voters have a mere 13 days before the voter registration deadline.”
Instead of protecting Americans’ freedom, the state of South Dakota is using flawed and outdated data to illegally purge voters right before the 2024 Election.
“The speedy reinstatement of these eligible voters is urgent as we quickly approach the November election,” Chapman said. “Each passing day restricts the options available to affected voters and unfairly denies them methods of voting that would otherwise be available to them.”
Erroneously flagging legal voters as noncitizens can occur when outdated information is obtained. South Dakota driver’s licenses, for instance, are available to noncitizens who are lawful permanent residents and can remain valid for five years. This means people who obtained their driver’s licenses as noncitizens, subsequently became naturalized U.S. citizens and then lawfully registered to vote have unlawfully been purged from the voter rolls based on outdated information.
There has been no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in elections across the country, even as some have ramped up unproven claims. But power-hungry elected officials are still sowing fear and distrust in the electoral process.
“Year after year, our elections have proven to be safe and secure and still, there is a concerted, nefarious effort by state officials to purge eligible citizens from the rolls based on stale data and dangerous lies,” Chapman said. “It’s irresponsible for politicians and others to be fanning the flames of misinformation and undermining trust in our elections. South Dakotans need to know that all eligible voters can have their voices heard at the ballot box. The ACLU will continue to work to ensure voters are protected from those who seek to spread lies and distrust in our elections.”
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