Number of registrations, ballots received up in Beadle County

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HURON — Nearly 3,000 Beadle County voters had already cast ballots, with 10 days to go prior to this year’s general election on Nov. 3, and voter registration increased as well in the lead up to this year’s voting.

Beadle County Auditor Jill Hanson said that as of Friday morning, 2,888 ballots had been cast for this year’s election, a number that includes both returned mail-in ballots and early (or absentee) voting conducted at her office in the Beadle County Courthouse.

“It’s been very steady,” Hanson said of the return of ballots both through the mail, at her office, or at the drop box installed on the south side of the courthouse. “Last Friday and Monday had about 120 ballots, and this week we have seen probably about 60 per day. And, of course, our busiest week is still ahead of us.”

Voters may cast ballots at the Auditor’s office on the second floor of the courthouse until 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, and ballots that were requested by mail must be back in the hands of Hanson’s staff before the end of voting on Nov. 3, to ensure they are included.

“The ballots we have back puts us at a 29% voter turnout right now,” Hanson said. “And we have added between 200 and 300 voters, with a very big push right before the Oct. 19 deadline.” Hanson said that in some cases, registrants were past voters who had allowed their registration to lapse, as well as some high school students registering for the first time.

She noted that whether the ballots were mailed in, dropped off or came via absentee, all are treated the same in her office. “That really hasn’t changed,” she said. “This is always how absentee or early ballots have been done. Ballots are placed in the proper precinct for the voter when the count is made.”

Polling places in Beadle County are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polling places include Huron Arena, the Wolsey Town Hall, the Lake Byron Bible Camp or the Cavour Town Hall. Voters unsure about where they are to cast ballots may log on to the S.D. Secretary of State’s website (sdsos.gov), click on the ‘voter information portal’ on the top banner and follow the directions to see a sample ballot, and to see where your precinct is to cast ballots. For those who returned a ballot via the mail, there is also place to see that your ballot has been received.

“I am pretty happy with where we are prior to this year’s election,” Hanson said. “I would have liked to have more people to have more tables set up at Huron Arena.” She noted that voters will again be separated alphabetically when they come in to Huron Arena and that there will be four tables of five election workers each to handle the traffic.

“Right now, we are at 29% turnout with early voting and in 2018, with the race for governor, we were about 60% turnout,” Hanson noted. “Our last presidential election we were just over 70% turnout, so that tells you that about 40% of the voters have yet to cast ballots in this year’s race. I urge voters to be patient on Election Day.”