PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — At least one South Dakota county and possibly others this fall didn’t comply with a state law on absentee voting.
South Dakota Board of Elections member Scott McGregor of Rapid City says he went to vote on Friday, September 30, but the Pennington County auditor’s office was closed.
McGregor brought the situation to the attention of other state election board members, including South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson, during a meeting on Wednesday.
State law sets a 46-day period for absentee voting.
The Pennington County Courthouse operates on a four-day week, 7 a.m. MT to 6 p.m. MT, Monday through Thursday. It is closed on Fridays.
“That does clearly violate the 46-day rule of current law,” McGregor said.
McGregor told of his experience during consideration of changes to South Dakota election laws that the secretary of state might seek in the 2025 legislative session that opens January 14.
He suggested that state law should be amended so that the person in charge of an election in a county “shall nonetheless make arrangements for the office to be open for the limited purpose of accepting absentee ballots or applications.”
Pennington County Auditor Cindy Mohler was among the half-dozen people in the audience.
“Staff is there 44 hours,” she said in defense of when the Pennington County Courthouse is open.
Mohler noted that auditor offices in some other South Dakota counties routinely were closed on Friday afternoons.
A new member of the state board, Kent Alberty of Sioux Falls, suggested that days could be changed to hours, so that counties would have more flexibility.
Mohler said that any change made to the 46-day law would need to include when the county auditor office must be open.
“There are variable hours across the state for counties,” she said.
Harding County Auditor Kathy Glines said some county auditor offices were open on Saturday afternoons so that they could receive absentee ballots from college students.
Mohler didn’t support McGregor’s proposal.
“We would have to modify what we do on Fridays and have security,” Mohler said.
McGregor replied, “I think everybody in the state should have the same opportunity.”
McGregor said he had spoken with five other Pennington County residents who told him they wanted to vote on that Friday, too.
“If we don’t do anything, we have a law being violated,” he said.
