Article Body
for immediate release
Friday, October 24, 2008
Contact: Chris Nelson
605-773-3537
Pierre, SD – Secretary of State Chris Nelson offers some suggestions to South Dakota voters to make their trip to the polling place on November 4 as easy as possible.
The polls will be open from 7:00am to 7:00pm local time. Any voter in line at 7:00pm will be allowed to complete the voting process.
State law requires employers to allow employees who do not have two “non-work” hours during the time polls are open, up to two hours off to go vote.
Voters can find the location of their polling place and view their sample ballot on the Voter Information Portal at www.sdsos.gov .
Campaign material is prohibited in the polling place or within 100 feet of the entry to a polling place so voters should not wear or display campaign clothing, stickers, buttons or other campaign items at the polling place.
Voters will be asked for a photo ID at their polling place. Acceptable ID’s include a South Dakota driver license or non-driver ID card, U.S. government issued photo ID card, tribal photo ID card, or student photo ID card issued by a South Dakota school. Any voter who does not have an ID card with them will be allowed to sign a personal ID affidavit swearing to their identity. Bringing a photo ID to the polling place will speed the voter through the line.
If a voter’s name is not on the voter registration list at their precinct, election workers will contact the county auditor to resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved and the voter insists they registered to vote in that precinct, the voter is eligible to vote a provisional ballot.
Voters are allowed to bring with them a self-created “cheat sheet” or marked sample ballot as long as the voter does not show the sheet to anyone else in the polling place and does not leave the sheet in the voting booth.
All voters will be given a paper ballot. Each voter may choose whether to mark their ballot with a pen or with the AutoMARK voter assist terminal. Voters who have poor eyesight, are blind, can’t use a pen to mark their ballot, or can’t read English well will find the AutoMARK particularly helpful in assisting them in marking their ballot. Lakota speaking voters in eleven counties will be able to hear their ballot in Lakota on the AutoMARK.
A voter who is disabled or can’t read English may have someone assist them in marking their ballot. The voter, however, must determine the votes to be marked.
A voter is not required to vote every race on the ballot. Any unvoted race will be ignored in the counting process and all the voted races will be counted.
If a voter makes a mistake in marking a ballot, the voter should request a new ballot from the election board.
Further information on the voting process can be found at www.sdsos.gov , by calling your county auditor or by calling the Secretary of State’s Office at 888-70- ELECT.
Results of the statewide candidate and ballot question, legislative, county, and water development district races will appear on the Secretary of State’s website, www.sdsos.gov , beginning at 8:00pm central time on November 4. Results will be updated every five minutes until the final results are tallied.
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