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Voter Split in South Dakota: GOP 46%, Dem 30%, Indy 23%

By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2017-12-02

The latest monthly voter registration figures show that, since the 2016 general election, the Secretary of State has removed 14,319 South Dakotans from the active voter registration list. Democrats have lost 10,061 voters and Republicans have lost 6,284, while the Independent/No Party Affiliation roll has gained 2,061.

GOP DEM IND/NPA Const Lib Other Total Inactive
11/08/16 252,115 170,694 118,669 500 1,620 829 544,428 50,698
12/01/16 253,132 170,671 119,829 499 1,644 840 546,615 49,615
01/03/17 253,619 170,572 120,638 501 1,659 844 547,833 49,019
02/01/17 253,782 170,387 121,334 495 1,661 846 548,505 48,638
03/01/17 253,854 170,057 121,711 495 1,666 848 548,631 48,476
04/10/17 253,845 169,688 122,373 493 1,682 843 548,924 48,141
05/01/17 253,983 169,442 122,806 494 1,682 841 549,248 48,188
06/01/17 254,166 169,240 123,452 490 1,686 837 549,871 47,985
07/05/17 254,569 169,094 124,260 489 1,693 837 550,942 35,860
08/01/17 253,819 168,257 124,140 486 1,701 834 549,237 30,619
09/01/17 249,085 163,830 121,641 475 1,651 793 537,475 42,069
10/03/17 247,477 162,482 120,980 475 1,671 789 533,874 46,511
11/01/17 247,267 162,036 121,572 474 1,673 786 533,808 47,597
12/01/17 245,831 160,633 120,730 471 1,662 782 530,109 51,795
Nov–Dec -0.58% -0.87% -0.69% -0.63% -0.66% -0.51% -0.69% 8.82%
YTD -3.07% -5.83% 0.08% -5.99% 0.18% -7.35% -3.24% 5.66%
since ED -2.49% -5.89% 1.74% -5.80% 2.59% -5.67% -2.63% 2.16%
% of total 46.37% 30.30% 22.77% 0.09% 0.31% 0.15%

The Republican share of South Dakota’s active electorate was creeping down for most of the year but picked back up once the annual voter purge took place. The percentage of Republicans on the voter rolls has thus since last Election Day just a touch, from 46.31% to 46.37%. The Democratic share over the same period declined every month, from 31.35% to 30.30%. The percentage of active voters declaring themselves independent or unaffiliated rose every month until plateauing in November, rising from 21.80% last Election Day to 22.77% yesterday.

The Libertarians have shown the largest growth rate since last Election, although in raw terms, there are only 42 more registered Libertarians in South Dakota than there were when Gary Johnson came in third in our fair state. If every party continued the same rates of growth or decline that we see above (an amusing speculation that ignores rekindled election year interest and the pendulum of history), the Libertarians would catch up with Democrats in total registered voters in 2081 and with Republicans by 2142. Of course, by then, the Libertarians would still be only 2% of an electorate that would be 96% independent.

Published in South Dakota