Republican lawmakers in South Dakota are stirring up\u2062 controversy\u200d with a series of election-related bills brought forth by Secretary of State Monae Johnson. These \u200cbills, including the sharing of the statewide voter\u200d registration file and the \u200bestablishment of \u2064a crime for threatening\u2063 a \u2063poll worker, have angered Johnson’s\u2064 own campaign supporters. The most recent bill,\u2063 SB 17, aims to modify \u200dthe state’s\u2063 residency requirement for\u2064 new voters, potentially allowing anyone to \u2062vote in South Dakota elections regardless of their actual residency.<\/p>\n

The original version of Senate Bill 17 demanded that individuals live in South Dakota \u200cfor at least thirty days in\u200b the year prior to registering to \u2064vote. However, \u200dthe bill has since been amended by the Republican-controlled Senate to\u200c remove the residency \u200cprotections entirely, opening the \u200ddoor \u2062for anyone to\u200d buy a South Dakota mailing address and\u2064 use it to\u200d vote.<\/p>\n

South\u200b Dakota Needs Stronger Election\u200b Integrity Laws<\/h2>\n
Since \u200d2020, election integrity has become a major concern across\u200d the country, and citizens in South Dakota have\u2064 been actively investigating \u2062their own election systems. \u2062The South Dakota \u200dCanvassing Group, led by Secretary of State \u200dMonae \u200cJohnson, has filed lawsuits to gain public access to the audit trail, but their requests \u2062have been\u200d denied by counties. This\u200b lack\u2064 of transparency has only fueled more questions \u2062and doubts about the election process.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Monae Johnson was elected as Secretary of State after campaigning on a platform of election integrity and promised\u200b reforms. However, her recent support for bills that\u200c weaken residency requirements\u2063 has raised\u200b concerns\u200b among grassroots\u2064 organizations and the state Freedom Caucus, who were\u200c instrumental in pushing\u2063 for election legislation in 2023.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
In 2023, South Dakota saw\u2064 a surge in election bills, \u200dwith nearly three dozen \u200cintroduced and 15 signed into\u2064 law. This was a direct response to the pressure from local citizens demanding increased election security. South Dakota \u200cimplemented post-election audits, becoming one of the few states in the nation to do so.<\/p>\n
South Dakota’s Residency Requirements and Voter Registration Issues<\/h2>\n
One of\u200b the main \u200bconcerns raised by grassroots canvassers was the \u2064presence of outdated voter rolls<\/a> and anomalies \u2063in the data. Thousands of\u200b voters were found to be registered at\u200b commercial addresses, vacant lots, hotels, motels, and even Walmart parking lots.\u200d This was attributed \u2062to the use of mail forwarding \u200bservices, which allow individuals to use a commercial address as their mailing address \u200cand\u2063 forward their mail\u2063 to their actual residence.<\/p>\n
South Dakota’s largest mail\u200b forwarding service, America’s Mailbox, has over 14,000 people registered at its campground location. These services are particularly popular in \u200cstates like Florida,\u2063 Texas, and South Dakota, which \u200boffer\u200d tax benefits and have lenient residency requirements.<\/p>\n
However, using \u2063a P.O. \u200bBox as a residential address is not acceptable according to South Dakota law and the National Voter Registration Act. Despite this, voter registration forms<\/a> often list\u2064 P.O. \u2062Boxes or general delivery addresses \u2063without specifying \u200cthe actual \u2062residence. This raises concerns about \u200dthe validity of these registrations \u2064and whether they comply with federal and state laws.<\/p>\n
Residency requirements became\u2064 a focus\u200b of legislation in 2023, resulting in the addition of a 30-day residency\u200d requirement \u2062to prevent one-day residents from\u2064 influencing elections. However, recent actions by the State Board of Elections, such as removing the assurance of residency on\u2062 voter registration forms, have raised further doubts about \u2063the integrity of the system.<\/p>\n
Protecting South Dakota’s Sovereignty<\/h2>\n
While South Dakota has shown support for defending Texas against illegal \u2063immigration, questions arise about the state’s own borders \u2062and the need to protect its sovereignty. The fast-tracking of bills that weaken residency requirements\u200c by a Republican-led legislature has raised concerns among citizens. Issues such as legalizing marijuana, up-to-birth abortion, and open primaries are being proposed \u200don \u200bthe \u200bballot, and it is crucial \u2062that only real, legal residents of \u200cSouth Dakota\u2064 have the\u2063 right\u200d to decide on these matters. With unverified\u2062 voters potentially influencing elections, the\u2062 question of whether the\u2063 citizens of South Dakota can truly be governed by consent is raised.<\/p>\n
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rnrn <\/p>\n
How does \u2062the presence of individuals registered at addresses outside of South Dakota raise concerns about the\u200c accuracy and integrity of the voter registration\u2064 process\u200d in the state?<\/h2>\n
Istered at\u2063 \u200ctheir address. This raises concerns about the accuracy and integrity of the \u200b voter registration process<\/a>,\u200d as it is unclear how many of these individuals actually reside in South Dakota and are eligible to vote in the state’s elections.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
By weakening residency\u200c requirements, Senate Bill 17 could potentially \u200cexacerbate the\u2063 issue of voter registration fraud \u2063and make it easier for out-of-state individuals to influence South Dakota elections.\u2063 This not only undermines the integrity \u200bof the\u200d electoral process but also \u200ddilutes the voices and votes of genuine South \u200dDakota \u2063residents.<\/p>\n
Opponents of\u200c the bill argue that it is a deliberate attempt to manipulate election outcomes<\/a> and disenfranchise certain \u2063groups of \u2064voters. They claim that by allowing anyone to vote\u200d in\u200d South Dakota elections, regardless of their actual residency, the\u200d door is opened for individuals and organizations\u2062 to exploit the system\u200c and undermine the will\u2063 of\u200d the genuine South Dakota electorate.<\/p>\n
The Importance \u200dof Secure Election Systems<\/h2>\n
Secure and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy. It is imperative that every eligible citizen has\u2064 the right to vote, and that\u200c their votes are counted \u200daccurately. Maintaining the integrity of the electoral\u200b process is crucial to\u2064 ensuring \u2063public trust and\u200d confidence in the\u2062 outcomes.<\/p>\n
Election security measures, including robust \u2063voter registration systems\u200c and \u2062residency \u2062requirements, are essential in preventing fraud and protecting the integrity of the electoral process. By maintaining accurate and up-to -date voter rolls<\/a> \u2064and verifying the \u2062residency of voters, states \u2062can ensure that \u2062only eligible \u200cindividuals are able to\u200b exercise their right to\u200d vote.<\/p>\n
South Dakota should prioritize strengthening its election integrity laws and ensuring\u2062 the accuracy\u2062 and security of its \u2063voter registration process. This includes \u200cimplementing measures to reduce the \u200bpresence of \u200coutdated voter rolls and anomalies in the data, as \u200cwell as enforcing strict residency \u200crequirements to prevent potential voter registration fraud.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
While the debate regarding Senate \u200bBill 17 in South Dakota continues,\u200d it is \u2062crucial for lawmakers and \u2063citizens alike to prioritize the integrity and security of\u200d their elections. By \u200ddoing so, South Dakota can \u200dset an example for other states and \u200cmaintain the trust\u2064 and confidence of its voters in the democratic \u2063process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson, aided by Republican lawmakers, has introduced several election-related bills in the 2024 legislative session. This move has angered her campaign supporters. Bills include sharing the voter registration file and creating a law against threatening poll workers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2834,"featured_media":2167851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/26196870996_e8f32141d6_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2167850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/26196870996_e8f32141d6_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2834"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2167850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2167851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2167850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2167850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2167850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}