Yesterday Governor Rhoden signed a large number of election bills into law which means the state will finally start cleaning up its election mess, including making it more challenging for out of state people to vote in our elections.
It’s been a long journey for some average people who wanted transparency and change. Back in 2021, a non-partisan group of citizens got together to address election issues. They formed a group called South Dakota Canvassing. Slowly and methodically they built a team of accountants, lawyers, computer scientists, farmers, business people, writers, homemakers, engineers, retirees, students, ….
This citizen army canvassed neighborhoods, crunched data, ran information and training sessions, spoke fearlessly at county commission meetings, testified in Pierre, and on and on. Regardless of how much data they collected or how bullet proof their arguments were, there seemed to be a concerted effort to silence them. They were called crazy, bashed in county meetings and legislative sessions, and thrown out of groups.
In the depth of the insanity, I clearly remember getting a notice that my personal data had been hacked on social media one day and hearing people in our state government say emphatically it was impossible to hack an election tabulator (computer) the next. It was surreal.
Thankfully this group ignored the insults and pushed forward. They kept educating until they had people in almost every county in the state. As they built, they became recognized nationally, taking on leadership roles in multi-state efforts. They were featured on national podcasts, TV programs, and in movies and their leaders began helping other states fix their election problems.
One of the election reform leaders was elected as the Auditor in Minnehaha County. Those in power did everything to make her life difficult, including paying her a lot less than her male predecessor, even though she was the first auditor to actually have the experience and education for the job. Other group members ran for legislative and county offices and won. These legislators helped get strong election legislation to the governor for signature and the county officers helped open dialog on election topics.
One has to wonder why it has been so difficult to get elections cleaned up in South Dakota. There is still more to do. Will cleaning up the rest of the mess be just as challenging?
