Election-denying Secretary of State Monae Johnson and her questionable colleagues advancing their Republican Party’s goal of reducing the voter registration rolls. In October, Johnson managed to strike out the voting eligibility of over 7,000 South Dakotans, reducing the total of registered voters in South Dakota by 1.2%, to 602,625. That purge wipes out most of the increase in voter registration achieved since February of this year.
The purge did not fall equally on all parties. Republican registrations fell 0.84%, back to where they stood in May. Libertarians lost 0.91%, back to their late June level. Independents dropped fell 1.45%, back to maybe their mid-June level. Democrats lost the most proportionately in the October purge, 1.67%, to their lowest level since perhaps 1970.
In another benchmark not seen since 1970, Republicans may again proudly boast of achieving statewide majority status. The SDGOP has held a plurality among South Dakota voters for pretty much as long as there have been South Dakota voters, but the 301,657 registered Republicans counted by the Secretary on November 1 constitute 50.06% of the 602,625 active registered voters.
Even with the October purge, Republicans have managed to increase their voter registration total 1.74% since last November. Over the same period, the independents are up 2.98%, giving our friends at SD Open Primaries more voters to enfranchise with their top-two primary initiative. Libertarians are up 4.85%, but Democrats have shed 2.46% of their registrants over the last 12 months.
(At those rates of growth and shrinkage, Libertarians would surpass Democrats in voter registration in 2077 and surpass Republicans in 2177.)
The purge didn’t whack the new No Labels party. The number of voters adopting that self-contradictory label rose from 6 at the beginning of September to 8 in October to 9 on November 1.
Is there any check and balances to what Johnson did?
We can’t trust as far as we can throw her.
Johnson checkers and balancers are magat majorities in both houses of congress and a magat soopreme court. plus nearly 50 years of one party rule.
Fo sho. Shouldn’t there be 3,000, or thereabouts, less republicans in SD from Covid 19? The SOS is a Jackley girl and knows secret maths. She maybe slipped a negative (-) before the new registered voter total, too. It is dirty and foul. NAZIs get punched in the movies, as they should, on sight.
I just don’t understand why…:(
Sweet flying monkeys of Stratos!
Expect further strikes from Monae the Shrike.
I’m not certain we elect a Secretary of State to decrease voter registration in South Dakota. It seems that for the last 175 years, up to the present moment, the State’s policy has been to make voting easier and to expand the rolls. What happened?? We’re at the point where Republicans reign supreme and now they want to decrease registration??
Mr. Blundt, in South Dakota, we elect fellows and in this case a lady to account for and do their jobs accurately. If that means tossing a bunch of out-of-state voters off the register of electors, even a lady as ept as Ms. Monae can toss them. People need tossing, sometimes.
In Stratos, Lar, the ruling class makes the decisions. Ms. Monae is not really in that ruling class, although she and some strive to be.
i’ve followed twitter publicly, anonymously for a few years now, a couple of different periods of times. It is an amazingly fast, immediate and easy method to follow multiple news source headlines with instantaneous links to facts.
But when billionaire Musk threatened to buy Twitter amidst a fair amount of controversy, I formally terminated my participation. After a year or more I decided the re-enroll, with a slightly different user name and password, starting over to build a base of sources I followed.
Seeing changes Musk is now implementing, and his gross personality and philosophy, and abject failure to run the business in an ethical manner (much like Rupert Murdoch does with Fox News), a few months ago after a particular outrage of Musk’s, I felt threatened by continued participation in his cyber enterprise and once again terminated my twitter service (now he calls it “X” fwiw).
To my surprise the content and ability to participate, comment, and link to news sources continued, unaffected. Finally tonight the service has shut itself down for my use. Coincidently I again received phoney warning pop-ups of phishing viruses on my iPhone. Now, an example of Musk’s hyper-partisan operation and deceptive Twitter (“X”) management is visible on the site of at least one liberal participant I have long trusted and followed. UT Austin law professor @Steve_Vladeck writes with extreme precision, high ethical standards and alacrity on legal/political matters in the national security area. However, as bait to new prospects, Musk’s Twitter (“X”) now shows a “best of” —or worst/of (depending on your perspective, professor Vladeck’s posts back to 2016 at least, in random rather than chronological order, seemingly as encoursgement for rabid conservatives to “Sign Up” to offset Vladeck as an unhinged liberal, perhaps to increase Republican “voters”, e.g. commenters, or follows, or followers, similar to what SOS Johnson (R., SD) is accomplishing.
An few examples:
“Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck
Aug 12, 2022
I’m confused: How can Trump be so sure that he declassified the evidence that the FBI planted?”
Or:
“Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck
Jan 6, 2021
The D.C. National Guard is not controlled by the Mayor; it’s controlled by the President.
The lack of a military response right now is a failure by the *federal* government to respond to an assault on one of its most important institutions engaging in its most important duty.”
By flooding the zone, I’m am not sure if Democrats can stem the flow of Republican machinations across the board in state and federal government to effectively compete in the next round of elections in the United States.
Red states have failed the democracy versus authoritarianism test so we have indeed become the Balkanized States of America.
I don’t think those numbers accurately represent what is going on – sure most of the registered Republicans are probably the zealous magats that vote for the magats in our legislature, but I know a growing number of Democrats who register Republican because the R primary is the only way to have a vote in this state. I also know a lot of Rs who want to leave the party – but know the R primary is the only way to get a vote. That R number would go down if we had open primaries.
Oh for goodness sake, Mr. Grudznick. Do you want to “toss” thousands of “License Plate” Republicans who endorse Governr Noem’s concept of “Freedom” by displaying a South Dakota License Plate and voting in our elections. They come from “the socialist Republic of Minnesota” and “Over regulated Iowa” as well as being refugees from California, Colorado, even Idaho, a state whose freedom obviously doesn’t compare to the Rushmore State. Are they all “good people”,? I don’t know. They are all freedom loving people who are solidly committed to Governor Noem’s vision.
Toss them, Mr. Blundt. They are out-of-staters.
Grudznick–Out of staters make us rich…with their enthusiastic tourism whether at the Motorcycle rally, hunting our state bird, or visiting our dinosaur and mammoth sites. Tourism receives more of our tax dollars than any other industry. We shall not hustle them out of the state, Nay, we want them to linger loner, until their funds are expended.
How do I find out if I am a registered voter who is no longer registered? Seems like someone should be taking on providing this information to all former voters so we can take appropriate action!
Mr. mike, who is from Iowa, will agree with grudznick on this. Ms. Reynolds, the governor of Iowa, is a swell intended young woman and golly is she pretty.
Am I registered to vote in South Dakota?
Check your “Registered Voter” status at the South Dakota Secretary of State website–Elections and Voting–Voter Information Portal (V.I.P.)–
Voter Registration Name Search.
https://vip.sdsos.gov/vipLogin.aspx
How do I register to vote in South Dakota?
Find voter registration forms and instructions at the South Dakota Secretary of State website–Elections and Voting–
–select “Register to Vote, Update Voter Registration or Cancel Voter Registration” box–
SCROLL DOWN TO REVEAL FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS HIDDEN BELOW!
https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/register-to-vote/default.aspx
How do I receive absentee ballots to vote by mail?
Find absentee ballot request forms and instructions at the South Dakota Secretary of State website–Elections and Voting–
–select “Absentee Voting” box–SCROLL DOWN TO REVEAL FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS HIDDEN BELOW!
https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/absentee-voting.aspx
Submit the South Dakota Absentee Ballot Application Form to your county auditor each year. to have ballots mailed to you automatically.
https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/AbsenteeApplication_202012.PDF