The runup to a major election can be a hectic time for election officials, whose tasks include training poll workers, testing tabulators, processing absentee ballots and providing voter information.
This year, in the final days before South Dakotans head to the polls Nov. 5, the stress level is higher than usual.
“Things are more contentious,” said Pennington County Auditor Cindy Mohler, who supervises elections in the state’s second-largest county in Rapid City. “I feel like at every turn we don’t know what’s going to be thrown at us, and so you’re a little apprehensive to let your guard down.”
Recent trends in South Dakota election law have broadened access for poll watchers and observers – who are allowed to monitor voting and counting activity – without increasing protections for poll workers and election officials, raising concerns about potential harassment, intimidation or interference.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Election Threats Task Force has arrested and prosecuted about 20 individuals for threatening election workers since its inception in 2021, a small fraction of cases reported by local officials.