Lakota Forward PAC has one more challenge to overcoming voter frustration and getting out the vote on Pine Ridge: the Oglala Sioux Tribal Election Commission just threw out the OST primary election results from October 6 and called for a revote on November 3.
The “voting irregularities” appear to have been a screw-up by their election services provider, as explained in this draft resolution from the OST Finance Committee’s October 8 meeting:
“Electronic Software Systems”—I can Google up no such company. Might OST mean “Election Systems & Software“?
This election error was not caused by non-citizens or vote-counting machines or any of the other false threats Republicans furiously wave to push their election-suppression tactics; it came from human error, which election officials and voters caught. But this error does create frustration for voters and candidates who thought they’d done their work on October 6 and now have to revote on November 3.
On the good side, the Oglala Sioux Tribe primary revote coincides with the general election, would ought to translate into higher turnout. On the bad side, it pushes the OST general off the statewide general election date to November 17, when voters may not turn out nearly as eagerly.