Here’s one small anecdotal sign of Democratic momentum in South Dakota.
I spent part of my weekend registering new voters ahead of today’s deadline for casting votes on November 6. I registered 25 new voters.
All 25 registered as Democrats.
If you want to register to vote in this election, get yourself to your county auditor’s office in your courthouse or any of these other locations today:
- Driver’s license station (when you are renewing or applying for a driver’s license you may also register to vote on the driver’s license application)
- City Finance Office
- Public assistance agencies providing food stamps, TANF or WIC
- Department of Human Services offices which provide assistance to the disabled
- Military recruitment offices
Mail won’t cut it: if I’m understanding state election law right, voter registration forms must be in the hands of the auditor by 5 p.m. today. State law (SDCL 12-4-5) says that “any completed mail registration card mailed to the appropriate county auditor and postmarked no less than thirty days preceding an election shall be added to the registration file,” which tells me that even if you get your form postmarked today, fifteen days before the election, you’ll miss out on voting November 6. And the county auditor won’t take e-mail or fax versions of the form (although there’s got to be a secure way to make that happen and make life easier for South Dakotans who want to vote).
I’ll submit my 25 new Democratic voter registrations today. I’ll spend the next two weeks making sure they and a few thousand other neighbors all get out and put that registration to use saving democracy.
As a state Senator you will have the opportunity to introduce bills. I hope you look into getting same day registration established in South Dakota. It’s been a fixture in Wisconsin for decades, and pretty easy to administer. I’m sure there will be some complaints about added expense, but I look at it as providing the most important service government provides in a customer-friendly way. Isn’t that what we are always wanting: government running like a business.
The way it works in Wisconsin is that there is a separate table with one to three poll workers at polling places to take registrations. After a person is registered they can vote same day. When I moved to Wisconsin, I was able to register at the polls in the first election after I moved.
NOVEMBER 6 TRUMP LIES TO US! DEMOCRATS ARE MAD😣😣😣
Minnesota does same day registration in a similar way as Wisconsin. It works very well.
related to this – yes, something is going on here, more Democrats registering more recently
https://twitter.com/Cromwell4Senate/status/1054054283551752192
OK. Motivated by your report, I went out this afternoon for a couple hours offering voter registration forms to staff and in waiting areas of a couple clinics and DSS and a couple other agencies and to folks waiting outside and in their cars. I said, I’m on my way to the county building, and I can take your voter registration form before the 5pm deadline.” That netted 17 registrations. Thanks for the inspiration.
Good citizenship, Cathy B!
17 on the deadline day! Well done, Cathy B!
Now we need to remind all these people to come vote!
Debbo and Donald, we should totally follow Minnesota and Wisconsin and do same-day registration!
(See also the District 3 Democratic Senate candidate’s October 7 Good Policy Idea #7.)