Background: Senate Bill 48 changes the definition of South Dakota residency for voter registration purposes, requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, and establishes a dual ballot system for voters.
Our position: The ACLU of South Dakota opposes Senate Bill 48. Because nothing is more sacred to our democracy than the right to vote, our elected officials should be doing everything they can to encourage people to register to vote – not making it harder, as Senate Bill 48 would do.
Senate Bill 48 hinders voter registration for people who don’t have documentary proof of citizenship readily available. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, more than 9 percent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. This could include newly naturalized citizens or students who recently moved to the state for college and might have forgotten their social security card at their parents’ home in a different state.
Senate Bill 48 also requires county auditors to retain documentation of a voter’s citizenship status, effectively creating a registry of naturalized citizens who are registered to vote in a given precinct. This could have a chilling effect on naturalized citizens’ voter registration amid increasing public bigotry toward immigrants.
Additionally, confusion among county auditors about the state’s existing 30-day durational residency requirement has already disenfranchised countless South Dakotans from their right to vote. The definition of residency in Senate Bill 48 is even more complicated and will sow even more confusion about who is allowed to register to vote and which ballot they are to be given.
