PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — There has never been an absentee voter turnout like this before for a primary election in South Dakota.
“There have been 86,906 absentee ballots cast and received by the county auditors,” says Secretary of State Steve Barnett.
His office in April mailed out absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the state, as a way to help thin out in-person voting at the polls in this age of COVID-19. Barnett says that is partly responsible for the massive turnout.
“These are unprecedented absentee numbers, I guess, in unprecedented times.”
It’s unclear how the massive flood of absentee ballots will impact the counting of votes. Auditors are able to start counting absentee votes before the polls actually close, but this flood may cause some challenges Tuesday night.
