Why would South Dakota’s libertarians advocating for autocracy?
Representative Aaron Aylward (R-6/Harrisburg), who ran the South Dakota Libertarian Party before he decided to brand himself with an R to get elected, has filed House Bill 1324 to abolish the State Board of Elections and move control over a host of election details from a bipartisan and experienced board to one person, to the Secretary of State.
The Board of Elections consists of seven members serving four-year terms:
- the Secretary of State serving as chair,
- two county auditors of different political parties chosen by the Speaker of the House from a list of auditors nominated by their fellow auditors,
- four members appointed by each of the majority leaders in each chamber of the Legislature.
The Board of Elections does not run elections, count ballots, or certify election results. The Board of Elections makes the rules for conducting elections. They set the format for voter registration forms, petitions, and ballots. They make lots of technical decisions that profoundly affect how 66 county auditors run elections and how citizens place candidates and issues on the ballot. Those technical decisions are exactly the kind of election arcana that require scrutiny from multiple sets of eyes, from people involved with and interested in the process at the local level who can tell a Secretary of State with some bright idea, “Actually, if you do that to the ballot or the petition form, you screw up efficient counting, and here’s why….”
The Board of Elections can bring institutional knowledge from around the state that produces better, more consistent election management than one partisan elected official can.
Rep. Aylward’s co-sponsors on HB 1324—Reps. Baxter, Ismay, Phil Jensen, and Kayser, and Sen. Pischke—are the kind of yahoos who mistake slashing government for good government. The Board of Elections is a small group that meets only a few times a year (twice in 2022, four times in 2023, twice in 2024, five times in 2025, and first time this year just last Friday to certify this year’s election equipment), so for a few per diems and expense payments, we get useful collaborative oversight of election rules to insulate the process from the partisanship or incompetence of one elected official.
Consolidating power in the hands of one person is not the libertarian way, or the republican or democratic way. Let’s hope House State Affairs sees through Rep. Aylward’s autocratic ploy, kills HB 1324, and keeps the Board of Elections.