PIERRE — Certain election-related data will not be classified as a public record after a Senate committee killed a bill Wednesday morning.
The Secretary of State’s Office brought SB 48 to make cast vote records, electronic data that represents how someone voted, public. Opposition centered around one phrase used in the bill, although that wasn’t the reason why it failed.
Rachel Soulek, the state election coordinator within the SOS office, said the records, also known as CVRs, are collected as tabulation machines read ballots. The records can be accessed through a specific software and printed.
Only four counties in South Dakota — Davison, Lincoln, Pennington and Minnehaha — have the software to collect and print out the CVRs. The remaining counties would have to spend more than $640,000 for the necessary software and printers to extract the information.
“Our office didn’t feel like we should be paying for it for all the counties,” Soulek said.
Sen. David Wheeler, R-Huron, in his remarks to kill the bill said he couldn’t support a bill that would create another unfunded mandate for counties already strapped for cash.