25.392.22 100th Legislative Session 1062
2025 South Dakota Legislature
House Bill 1062
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS ENGROSSED
Introduced by: Representative Baxter
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An Act to amend provisions pertaining to the maintenance and publication of the 1
statewide voter registration file. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 3
Section 1. That § 12-4-9 be AMENDED: 4
12-4-9. The county auditor shall maintain and safeguard a file of voters in 5
computer format that contains the information of each person registered in each voting 6
precinct within the county. This file shall be known as the master registration file and shall 7
be, at all times during office hours, open to public inspection. However, public access to 8
social security numbers, driver license numbers, and dates of birth contained in the master 9
registration file is prohibited. The master registration file shall contain all information from 10
each voter's registration card. The master registration file shall also include the date of 11
the last election the voter has voted in and when the voter's information was last updated. 12
The master registration file may also contain additional voter history information. Any 13
digital master registration file that contains: 14
(1) The information from the voter registration card of each individual registered to 15
vote in the county; 16
(2) The date of the last election at which the individual has voted; 17
(3) The date when the individual's voter information was last updated; and 18
(4) Any application made by an individual to vote by absentee ballot, including: 19
(a) The mailing address listed on the absentee ballot application form; 20
(b) The absentee ballot requested on the application; 21
(c) The date the absentee ballot was requested; 22
(d) The date that the absentee ballot was returned; and 23
(e) The method of absentee voting employed by the individual. 24 25.392.22 2 1062
Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes indicate deleted language.
The master registration file must be open to public inspection, free of charge. An 1
individual's social security number, driver license number, South Dakota nondriver 2
identification number, or month and day of birth is not open to public inspection. 3
The county auditor shall produce a record of all the information contained in the 4
master registration file the day before any election scheduled within the county by 11:59 5
p.m. The county auditor shall maintain a rolling five-year archive of historical information 6
from the master registration file. 7
The county auditor shall keep a voter registration form for a purged or unregistered 8
voter shall be kept for twenty-two months. No purged or unregistered voter may be 9
included in the master registration file. 10
Section 2. That § 12-4-37 be AMENDED: 11
12-4-37. The secretary of state shall establish and maintain a computerized 12
system for maintaining and utilizing the voter registration file and transmitting voter 13
registration information from each county auditor to the Office of the Secretary of State. 14
The State Board of Elections Bureau of Information and Telecommunications shall 15
promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to develop and implement establishing 16
procedures to secure the computerized system used for the voter registration file from 17
external threats that could damage the integrity of the voter registration system. 18
Each county auditor shall transmit daily any changes to the master registration file 19
or the absentee voter log to the secretary of state on a daily basis using the computerized 20
system maintained by the secretary of state. The county auditor shall transmit updated 21
information contained in the county voter registration system, including voter registration 22
information and voter election history information, to the Office of the Secretary of State 23
secretary of state not later than July fifteenth after each primary election and December 24
fifteenth after each general election. 25
The secretary of state shall post a weekly update to the statewide voter registration 26
file to the secretary's website. The weekly update to the statewide voter registration file 27
must be recorded each Monday by 11:59 p.m. and must contain any updates to the 28
information in the county master registration file, pursuant to § 12-4-9. 29
Section 3. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 12-4: 30
The secretary of state shall establish and maintain a rolling five-year historical 31
archive of the complete statewide voter registration file, including the weekly updates 32
published by the secretary pursuant to this section. 33 25.392.22 3 1062
Underscores indicate new language.
Overstrikes indicate deleted language.
The information contained in or the historical archive of the statewide voter 1
registration file must be made available free of charge. 2
An individual's social security number, driver license number, South Dakota 3
nondriver identification number, and month and day of birth contained in the historical 4
archive of the statewide voter registration file are not open to public inspection. 5
Section 4. That § 12-4-39 be AMENDED: 6
12-4-39. The secretary of state may shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 7
1-26 concerning, providing for: 8
(1) Procedures for the establishing The establishment and maintenance of the 9
statewide voter registration file; 10
(2) Transmission of The transmission of the voter registration information from the 11
county auditor to the Office of the Secretary of State secretary of state; 12
(3) Procedures for determining The identification of duplicate voter registration; and 13
(4) Dissemination of The publishing of the information from the statewide voter 14
registration file; and 15
(5) Establishment of fees for information provided from the statewide voter 16
registration file. 17
Section 5. That § 12-4-41 be AMENDED: 18
12-4-41. Any information obtained from the statewide voter registration file or 19
any county voter registration file may not be used or sold only for election purposes, may 20
not be used for any commercial purpose, and may not be placed for unrestricted access 21
on the internet. For the purpose of this section, the term, commercial purpose, does not 22
include campaign or political polling activities. 23
Any violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition to any criminal 24
sanctions, the court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars for 25
each violation. Any civil penalty collected pursuant to this section shall must be deposited 26
in the general fund. 27