Committee backs amendment to let counties process absentee ballots before Election Day

The House State Affairs Committee voted to recommend SB171, as amended (171A), to permit counties with high absentee volumes to convene an absentee counting board and perform limited processing of absentee ballots on the Monday before an election while keeping ballots sealed until tabulation on Election Day.

Rep. Leslie Heinemann (presenting the bill) and multiple county auditors testified that absentee voting has grown substantially and that the change would allow more timely reporting without counting ballots before polls close. Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson described the proposed steps: verifying signatures, checking voters off in the state's total-vote system, opening envelopes only to separate ballots from envelopes, stamping and placing ballots into sealed ballot boxes, and keeping those boxes locked and un-tabulated until Election Day. She said the process would stop once ballots are placed in sealed boxes and that the work would be open for public viewing.

Opponents, including Laura Kotolik and Jeff Stewart, raised concerns that the term "process" is used inconsistently in the bill, that pre-election handling may be unnecessary statewide if the problem is concentrated in a few counties, and that the measure could create opportunities for misuse. Stewart questioned whether the change conflicted with existing county authority over tabulation under SD law, and Kotolik warned about entering voter information into poll books prior to polls opening.

In rebuttal, Auditor Anderson emphasized that the county's check-in for absentee ballots uses the total-vote system rather than electronic poll books and that much of the information is already public via absentee voter lists. Committee members discussed the tradeoffs between timeliness and safeguards; several members said they supported future efforts to reduce the length of the absentee period.

The committee adopted a motion to recommend SB171 as amended; the chair recorded the due-pass recommendation and the measure will move to the House floor.