A Sioux Falls resident votes in the city and school board election at Southern Hills United Methodist Church on April 9, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
The county officials who run South Dakota’s elections want voters to study up and prepare for long wait times on Election Day, if they don’t plan to vote early.
As of Oct. 11, 40,135 South Dakotans had already voted in the 2024 general election. Early and absentee voting began Sept. 20.
That’s a bellwether of overall voter turnout, Secretary of State Monae Johnson said. Twice as many South Dakotans have cast absentee ballots this year compared to the same date prior to the 2022 election . About 59.4% of registered voters turned out for the midterm election.
[ 2024 Voter Guide: The candidates, the ballot measures, and the tools you need to cast your vote. ]
Johnson estimates up to 75% voter turnout this election. The 2020 election had about 74% turnout; 2016 had about 69%.
“There’s a huge interest in the ballot we have,” Johnson said.