UPDATE: House Bill 1217 officially failed on Feb. 22.
House Bill 1217 would modify the requirements for eligibility to vote by absentee ballot. Additionally, the window of opportunity for voters to cast an absentee ballot would shrink from 46 days to just 30 days leading up to an election, further restricting access to participating in our elections.
The ACLU of South Dakota opposes this bill. Absentee voting is South Dakota’s mechanism for early voting, which helps to reduce long lines on Election Day that may discourage voters from exercising their right or make it impossible if they have a limited amount of time to take off work to vote.
