Secretary of State speaks at Republican meeting

HURON — The Beadle County Republicans held a meeting on Monday at the party headquarters. This week’s speakers were Secretary of State Steve Barnett and Mike Held of Huron, a registered lobbyist for the S.D. Farm Bureau.

Secretary Barnett shared that as of last Thursday, South Dakota’s voter registration showed 158,573 registered as Democrat, while Republicans showed 277,182 registered. Those registered as Independent in the state total 137,799 there are 2,305 registered Libertarians and 1,375 who are registered as ‘other.’

He said that the latest numbers for the 2020 general election show that 189,795 absentee ballots have been requested in the state and of that number 162,337 are showing returned. In Beadle County, those numbers are 3,606 requested with 3,023 returned.

Secretary Barnett stated that ensuring secure elections in South Dakota is one of his priorities. Opening of sealed ballot boxes and the removal of paper ballots for tabulating is done in public view. There are no internet-based voting systems in South Dakota, and he stated that an estimated 53% of what is seen on social media regarding the elections is false.

Secretary Barnett then reviewed the three ballot issues on which voters may cast ballots this year:

1) Constitutional Amendment A—A proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana; and to require the Legislature to pass laws regarding hemp as well as laws ensuring access to marijuana for medical use.
2) Constitutional Amendment B—A proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution authorizing the Legislature to allow sports wagering in Deadwood.
3) Initiated Measure 26—An initiated measure on legalizing marijuana for medical use.
Held gave an update on the ‘No Way On Amendment A’ coalition, which now has 26 S.D. groups who are working together to defeat constitutional Amendment A.

Held stressed three points for those in attendance to share.

First, Amendment A is recreational marijuana and IM 26 is medical marijuana. “There is a significant difference in the impact the two proposals will have on this state and on South Dakota citizens,” Held said. “Voters need to recognize the negative consequences that can result from Amendment A.”    

Second, Held said that recreational marijuana will put our teens at greater risk. “States that have approved recreational marijuana have seen an increase in its usage by underage youth. This puts our young people in jeopardy, because unfortunately kids are able to acquire alcohol and tobacco, and we will see the same results from recreational marijuana,” according to Held.

Third, he said that Amendment A does not belong in the S.D. Constitution. Held noted, “we do not regulate alcohol or tobacco in our constitution and it is not appropriate to put marijuana there either.”