South Dakotans Deserve Clear, Secure Elections

With just 55 days until Election Day, and 9 until early voting, South Dakota voters should be able to trust that the rules governing their elections are clear, consistent, and secure.

Instead, we are watching the Trump Administration push new federal requirements for mail-in voting that could create confusion for voters and election officials just weeks before an election.

Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined the federal court case involving these new U.S. Postal Service requirements. The rules would require states to provide information about federal mail ballots to the Postal Service and impose new requirements for how those ballots are prepared and processed. A federal judge has temporarily blocked key portions of the rule from being implemented for the November 3 election, but the legal fight is continuing.

As I write this post, on Wednesday, September 9, the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether these new mail-in voting restrictions are legal. The Trump Administration has asked the Court to allow the rules to take effect while the underlying legal challenge continues.

This uncertainty is exactly what South Dakota voters don’t need.

More than 55,000 South Dakotans voted early or by mail in 2024. For many voters, voting by mail is not a convenience; it is how they participate in our democracy. That includes South Dakotans serving in the military, such as those stationed overseas from Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Our local election officials work hard to administer secure and accessible elections. They know their communities, understand South Dakota’s election laws, and have systems in place to make sure ballots are handled properly.

They don’t need Washington creating new rules and changing the process in the final weeks before an election.

Voting is a constitutional right, not a privilege.

South Dakotans deserve to know that their vote will be counted and that the rules won’t change at the last minute.

We should be making it easier, not harder, for eligible South Dakotans to participate in our elections. And we should be strengthening confidence in our election system, not creating unnecessary confusion.