Counties across South Dakota are using a new system to access and update voter records. Total Vote allows county auditors instant access to changes that need to be made, from new voter registrations and pending applications to record deletions due to a death and notices of missing information with existing records. Lake County Auditor Bobbi Janke said she is just starting to use the new system, and it continues to improve every week. South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant said the system was created using input from auditors across the state. The goal was to create one computer system that could be used by all counties and the state. The new program is designed to communicate directly with other state departments that provide alerts related to voter records — like alerts from the state Department of Health regarding a death, which requires the removal of that voter from the active voter registration list. “It’s incorporated all of the election systems into one new system,” Gant said.
Auditors can add and edit voter registrations using a system of checks and balance. They can create sample ballots, and party affiliation is automatically checked for those interested in taking out a petition for an elected office. Gant said that if a registered Republican attempts to seek office as a Democrat, Total Vote would prevent the petition from being issued.
“It will handle just about every aspect of our election system,” Gant said. “We’re quite excited about the opportunities with this system.”
Total Vote is a concept the state has been working on for almost two years, and several training sessions have taken place.
“We thought we had all the ideas on how the system would work best, but every day we get better ideas on how to improve it,” he said.
While it’s exciting to see the system up and running knowing all the work that it’s taken, Gant said, the best part came after all the auditors started using it and providing the state with ideas on how it could be improved.
Full Article: Madison Daily Leader – County using new voter system.