BROOKINGS Election Day has arrived, and its time for voters to make their decisions regarding a variety of issues on the ballot and more than 35% of them already have in Brookings County, thanks to early voting.
To be precise, the numbers were 7,683 voters, comprising 35.6% of the electorate in the county as of Monday at 5 p.m., according to county Finance Director Lori Schultz.
Voting has been steady with lines, and I expect it to pick up as the day goes on, she told the Brookings Register earlier in the day, adding that extra voting booths had been set up to help move people along.
More than 35 percent means the county turnout this fall has doubled Aprils citywide election numbers with Election Day yet to be tabulated. At 7,683 voters, the county was more than halfway to matching its 2020 presidential year turnout. That year, 14,110 ballots were cast for president in Brookings County.
And, as busy as Monday was for Schultz and her staff, she expects it to be even more so today, with staffers planning for a really late night. For voters, though, today doesnt necessarily have to be a bear to cast your ballot, what with the polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Go vote as early in the day as possible. Be prepared for lines. Above all, have your sample ballot or cheat sheet with you, Schultz pointed out. I cant emphasize enough how much that will help you when you go to vote.
Sample ballots, she said, are available online at the South Dakota secretary of states website, https://vip.sdsos.gov.
Its probably a good idea to get one, too, if you havent already done so. After all, there are a number of statewide ballot issues worth giving some thought to, including abortion, grocery taxes, recreational marijuana, CO2 pipelines, how primaries are conducted and more. South Dakota House and Senate races will also be decided and, oh, theres also the presidential contest between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Whew. No biggie, right?
The election process, fortunately, has been pretty smooth as well but even so, Schultz and her office are always prepared for the unexpected. Which is exactly what happened on Friday afternoon, when the states voting system had a wrench thrown into the works, causing an outage that lasted for several hours.
We were told that it was a state-wide issue due to a Microsoft service disruption. (While) some counties turned away voters, Brookings County reverted back to the old-school voter registration list, which is a listing of all registered voters in the county that we keep up to date, she said. Everything went very smoothly for us. Everything was accounted for and all voters got to cast their ballot.
Now that the big day is here, one that occurs only every four years, Schultz had nothing but praise for her colleagues.
There are a lot of people involved in making an election happen. As I have said many times, we have an excellent team, she said. The election workers at the polls that are the front line on election day, the absentee staff that we are lucky to have come back year after year, the office staff that I can rely on to make sure everything is done correctly and on time.
They all handle the stress and extra hours of work required with enthusiasm and a smile, Schultz concluded. The county is really lucky to have all of these people delivering a top-notch election for our voters.
In closing, heres some additional useful information for voters to consider today:
Locations for voting in Brookings County are:
Aurora: Impact Church, 201 E. Pine St.
Brookings: Bethel Baptist Church, 714 17th Ave. S. Two areas the gymnasium and lunchroom, respectively will be set aside for voting at this location.
It is our busiest spot, and this was an easy way to decrease the lines and also make the day easier for our election staff, Schultz noted in an earlier Register story. When a voter enters the church, they can choose to go left or right into either voting area.
Brookings: Brookings Activity Center, 320 Fifth St.
Brookings: Holy Life Tabernacle Church, 241 Mustang Pass
Bruce: Community Room, 507 Jay St.
Elkton: Community Center, 109 N. Elk St.
Volga: Community Center, 109 Samara Ave.
White: McKnight Hall, 228 W. Main St.
Voters will also need some form of ID before they can cast their ballots. Acceptable forms are:
South Dakota drivers license or nondriver ID card
U.S. government photo ID (passport is acceptable)
U.S. armed forces ID
A current student photo ID card from a South Dakota high school or a South Dakota-accredited institution of higher education
Tribal photo ID
If an ID is not available, Schultz said there is a process to follow so that no voter is disenfranchised
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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