South Dakota

Election Day: Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, or until the last person in line at 7 p.m. has voted. Absentee voters may vote in person at the county auditor’s office or by mail no sooner than 46 days before Election Day. Absentee ballots must be received by the county auditor no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

How to Find Your Polling Place: Visit the following link – https://vip.sdsos.gov/VIPLogin.aspx

Registration Deadlines

• For registration deadlines, see How to Register below.

How to Check Your Registration: Voters can determine whether they are registered to vote at the following link: Am I Registered?.

You are eligible to vote in South Dakota if you:

• Are a U.S citizen
• Are a resident of South Dakota
• Are at least 18 years old by Election Day

You are NOT eligible to vote in South Dakota if:

• A judge has specifically ruled that you are not able to vote.
• You are currently serving a sentence including incarceration, parole, probation, or extended supervision for a felony conviction

Restorative Requirements

• If you have completed a felony sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or you have been pardoned, then you are immediately eligible to register to vote

In South Dakota, in order to register to vote and cast a ballot, you must pay all restitution, fines, or other fees.

How to register 

• South Dakota residents may register either at a county auditor’s office or by mail. Voter registration application forms and accompanying instruction can be found at the following links:
• Registration Form: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/VoterRegistrationFormFillable.pdf

Absentee Ballot Application: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/AbsenteeApplication_202012.PDF

Voter Registration

To register to vote in South Dakota you should provide:

• Your South Dakota Driver’s License Number

If you do not have these IDs, you may provide:

• Last Four Digits of your Social Security Number

If you do not have a South Dakota Driver’s License or Social Security number and need help getting ID, go to www.voteriders.org.

Voting In-Person

If you are registered to vote in South Dakota, you are required to show photo ID to vote; or, you may instead sign an affidavit or similar document. Accepted forms of ID include:

• Valid Federal Issued ID
• Valid Military ID
• Valid South Dakota Driver’s License
• Valid Student ID
• Valid South Dakota Non-driver’s ID
• Valid Tribal ID
• Valid US Passport

If you don’t have any of these when you vote absentee in person or go to the polls on Election Day, you can fill out an affidavit confirming your identity and still be allowed to vote. If you do not have one of the South Dakota valid IDs and need help getting ID, go to www.voteriders.org.

• In person:  If a voter is not able to show photo ID, they may sign an affidavit confirming their name and address and may vote a regular ballot (not a provisional ballot).

Absentee Voting: The voter must submit valid identification with your request for an absentee ballot. If a voter is mailing or using delivery for their absentee ballot, then they will not need to provide identification with their ballot.

• If the voter has moved within the same county: The new address need not match the voter’s registration address as long as the precinct and county are the same.
• If the voter has moved to a different election jurisdiction: A person who has moved to a new county must re-register with their new address before the registration deadline in  order to vote.

If You Want to Vote Absentee, requests may be made:

• In-Person
• By Mail

Absentee Ballots may be returned:

• In-Person
• By Mail

• Absentee ballot applications must be returned by mail or in person to their County Auditor.
• Absentee Ballot Application: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/AbsenteeApplication_202012.PDF
• County Auditor Search: https://vip.sdsos.gov/CountyAuditors.aspx
• Any person who is eligible to vote may vote absentee beginning 46 days prior to the election by completing the application. The County Election Official must receive the application for an absentee ballot no later than 5:00 p.m. the day before the election.

Voting Military

Service members and their dependents may register and request a ballot using the federal voter registration/ballot request form (“FPCA”). You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

• Valid Driver’s License
• U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID
• Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
• Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number

Your state does not require an ID to be provided in order to register your ballot.

Voting Overseas

U.S. citizens living overseas may register and request a ballot using the overseas voter registration/ballot request form. You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

• Valid South Dakota Driver’s License
• U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID
• Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
• Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number

Your state does not require an ID to be provided in order to register your ballot.

If the voter possesses a current, valid South Dakota driver’s license, the voter may use the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Electronic Voter Registration Portal to request an absentee ballot, available at https://elvr.sdsos.gov/. 

If the voter does not possess a current, valid South Dakota driver’s license the voter may submit an absentee ballot application as follows: 

1. complete, print and sign the Absentee Ballot Application (available at https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/AbsenteeApplication_202012.PDF); 
2. sign the application (note: the requirement for a photo ID and/or notarization requirement is waived for stateside and overseas military and U.S. citizens residing outside of the United States); and 
3. send the application to the person in charge of the election (note: UOCAVA may submit their absentee ballot applications by mail or fax, or a signed and scanned image of the application may be submitted via e-mail to the appropriate county auditor (a/k/a “County Election Official”). Note that if the voter chooses to have their ballot mailed to them, they should complete the ballot and mail it back to their county auditor. Alternatively, if the voter chooses to have their ballot sent to them electronically, they will receive an e-mail with login information and a link to the Military and Overseas Citizens (UOCAVA) Web Portal. Print the ballot, complete it, sign the envelope and mail it back to the voter’s county auditor. Marked, official ballots may NOT be submitted through any electronic means (i.e., fax, email, etc.).

Note that the voter must be a registered voter to request an absentee ballot for South Dakota absentee voting, however the voter may submit a voter registration form and an absentee ballot application together. If the voter is registering to vote or updating their voter registration, the voter must mail the original form to the county auditor’s office.

Note also that if an UOCAVA voter has submitted an absentee ballot application but has not received the absentee ballot, a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) may be submitted. The FWAB may be accessed at the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s website (available here https://www.fvap.gov/eo/overview/materials/forms). The instructions on the site will take the voter through the process step by step. NOTE: The FWAB may only be used to vote in Federal races. Finally, Service members, their eligible family members and overseas citizens can use the FPCA to both register to vote and request their absentee ballots. FVAP.gov offers an FPCA online assistant that guides users through the form-completion process, as well as, a fillable PDF form of the FPCA for download (available here https://www.fvap.gov/fpca-privacy-notice). NOTE: The process will require a printer.

Individuals who are currently incarcerated pursuant to a felony conviction (federal or state) cannot vote while serving their sentence.  A person so disqualified becomes eligible to register to vote upon completion of their entire sentence, including completion of probation, parole, restitution; including all fines and fees. A person who receives a suspended imposition of sentence does not lose the right to vote.