Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

The South Dakota Legislature delivered a mixed verdict on election administration this session. While lawmakers enacted several restrictive measures, they simultaneously advanced constructive reforms to consolidate local election schedules and enhance the transparency of county procedures. Due to these conflicting developments, the state earned a C+ rating.

Looking Back

Where South Dakota Started at the Beginning of 2025

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: No
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Parole and/or Probation Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: In-Person Absentee
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for South Dakota as of 2024, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2025 activity against other bottom tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 39th
• EPI Score (2022): 44th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

The South Dakota Legislature made changes to the state’s election laws on a wide variety of issues from voter registration and list maintenance to election consolidation.

• HB 1066 revises voter residency requirements to clarify that a voter must live in the state for 30 consecutive days to be eligible to vote, the longest amount of time permitted under federal law.
• SB 185 allows registered voters in a county to challenge another voter in the county as unqualified based on evidence that the voter registered or voted in another state. However, it is not uncommon for new registrants to often still be registered in their prior home state, due to no fault of their own. This could lead to false challenges based on nothing more than outdated voter records rather than indicating bad intentions by the voter.
• SB 73 prohibits new residents from utilizing voter registration at the DMV until they have resided in the state for at least 30 consecutive days.
• SB 68 revises voter qualifications to make it clear that U.S. citizenship is required and raises the criminal penalties for voting when unqualified or making false statements about one’s voter qualifications.
• HB 1062 requires counties to include absentee ballot application information in their master voter files. It requires the secretary of state to post weekly updates to the statewide voter file, while also maintaining a 5-year archive of the statewide voter file that is publicly accessible.
• HB 1127 requires the secretary of state to publicly post on its website information on county canvasses, post-election audits, and voting equipment testing.
• HB 1130 standardizes the dates for municipal and school district elections and consolidates these elections with state primary and general elections in even-numbered years.
• HB 1208 prohibits the use of certain commercial addresses and P.O. boxes for state voter registration. Anyone who uses such addresses for registration or absentee ballot requests will be designated a “federal only” voter.