The Minnehaha County Commission pushed off until Nov. 18 a review of the general election, marked by ballot counting that did not conclude until the next morning and questions about why some voters received incorrect ballots. Three people didn’t want to wait. They used the public comment portion of a commission meeting Wednesday to voice complaints and observations about the election. Commissioners listened to the testimony but did not comment. Lori Stacey, head of South Dakota’s Constitution Party, brought a broadly focused indictment of the election to commissioners’ attention. She claimed two of her party’s candidates, Curtis Strong, who planned to run for governor and Charles Haan who was going to run for the U.S. House, were incorrectly denied a place on the ballot. Having faced no primary opposition, they should have automatically been on the general election ballot, Stacey said. Instead, Secretary of State Jason Gant and Attorney General Marty Jackley ruled those candidates did not meet the threshold of petition signatures necessary to get on the ballot.
Stacey claimed law enforcement officials in Sioux Falls and Shannon County parked near polls and intimidated voters, and there were questions about ballot security in Shannon County. Projected winners were announced by news media before all polls closed, Stacey said.
She also said she was among Minnehaha County voters who did not receive notification of a polling place change. “How many voters gave up because they had no time” to find their correct precinct and cast a ballot “after waiting in line at the first precinct?” she wondered.
Full Article: Complaints surface about fall election.