Student Voting Project | South Dakota

Voting at School

ID Requirements

All voters have to show ID in South Dakota. Valid forms of ID include:a South Dakota driver's license or nondriver ID card; a passport orother photo ID issued by the U.S. government; a current student photoID from a college or university in South Dakota; or tribalidentification with a photo. If you do not have ID, you can sign anaffidavit and vote a regular ballot.

Registration Requirements

Your registration application must be received fifteen days before the election.

Residency Requirements

South Dakota's laws define residence as your "fixed" home as long as you "intend to return" there after any absence and have "no present intent of leaving" your home. Students who are currently residing in their college community, and who don't have any current plans to move away, can register and vote in that community. There are no procedures under South Dakota state law for your residency to be challenged.

Students who moved out of South Dakota to attend school elsewhere, and who intend on moving back after graduating, should not have a problem registering and voting in South Dakota. Under South Dakota law, voters who leave their homes in South Dakota "for a temporary purpose only" have "not changed his or her residence."

Absentee Requirement

Any registered voter can vote absentee in South Dakota. You either have to get your absentee ballot application notarized, or you can send along with it a copy of a valid form of photo ID (see list above). Blank application forms are available on the web site of the Secretary of State. The deadline to submit an application for an absentee ballot is 3:00pm on Election Day, but you may want apply earlier to have enough time to receive the ballot and return it before the polls close on Election Day. Your absentee ballot does not need to be witnessed or notarized, and must be received before the polls close.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

All voters have to show ID in South Dakota. Valid forms of ID include: a South Dakota driver's license or nondriver ID card; a passport or other photo ID issued by the U.S. government; a current student photo ID from a college or university in South Dakota; or tribal identification with a photo. If you do not have ID, you can sign an affidavit and vote a regular ballot.

Registration Requirements

Your registration application must be received fifteen days before the election.

Residency Requirements

South Dakota's laws define residence as your "fixed" home as long as you "intend to return" there after any absence and have "no present intent of leaving" your home. Students who are currently residing in their college community, and who don't have any current plans to move away, can register and vote in that community. There are no procedures under South Dakota state law for your residency to be challenged.

Students who moved out of South Dakota to attend school elsewhere, and who intend on moving back after graduating, should not have a problem registering and voting in South Dakota. Under South Dakota law, voters who leave their homes in South Dakota "for a temporary purpose only" have "not changed his or her residence."

Absentee Requirement

Any registered voter can vote absentee in South Dakota. You either have to get your absentee ballot application notarized, or you can send along with it a copy of a valid form of photo ID (see list above). Blank application forms are available on the web site of the Secretary of State. The deadline to submit an application for an absentee ballot is 3:00pm on Election Day, but you may want apply earlier to have enough time to receive the ballot and return it before the polls close on Election Day. Your absentee ballot does not need to be witnessed or notarized, and must be received before the polls close.

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[1] S.D. Codified Laws §12-1-4.

[2] Interview with Kea Warne, Office of the South Dakota Secretary of State (April 24, 2008).

[3] S.D. Codified Laws §12-1-4.

[4] S.D. Codified Laws § 12-4-5.

[5] S.D. Codified Laws § 12-18-6.1.

[6] S.D. Codified Laws § 12-18-6.2.

[7] S.D. Codified Laws §12-19-1.

[8] S.D. Codified Laws §12-19-2.

[9] S.D. Codified Laws §12-19-12.