The ACLU of South Dakota is prepared to respond immediately any voting rights infringements that may arise on Election Day in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen.
The ACLU will place trained election observers at polling locations in each city to watch for any issues that would disenfranchise voters, including questions about individual voter eligibility and mass challenges to absentee ballots.
The ACLU’s election observer efforts are in response to June’s primary election. In Minnehaha County, 132 absentee ballots were rejected based on a mass eligibility challenge to the voters’ residency status because they registered to vote with an address affiliated with a mail-forwarding service. The ballots weren’t counted until more than two weeks later when three candidates petitioned for a recount because their races were with a 2% margin. The recount board then opted to include them.
“Voting is the most fundamental right we have in a democracy,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “All eligible voters who wish to exercise their rights during the 2024 general election deserve to be able to cast their ballots without interference and have confidence that their votes will be counted fairly.”
The ACLU of South Dakota’s election observer efforts are an expansion of its regular election protection work to ensure easy, fair and safe access to the ballot box. The ACLU and partners provide individual assistance through the Election Protection Hotline, by addressing systemic issues affecting access to the polls, and, when necessary, seeking relief for voters in the courts.
Voters who experience voting rights violations and irregularities or have other problems at the polls are encouraged to contact the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline:
- 866-OUR-VOTE (English)
- 888-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish)
- 844-YALLA-US (Arabic)
- 888-API-VOTE (Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese)
About the ACLU of South Dakota
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of South Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and Wyoming. The team in South Dakota is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit communities. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of South Dakota.
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