This story has been updated with further information from Minnihaha County Auditor Leah Anderson. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- At least one county auditor has started to learn more about about the changes made to South Dakota's voter rolls this week. On Monday, DPS spokesman Brad Reiners sent out a news release announcing the DPS had discovered the need to remove 273 noncitizen voters from South Dakota voter rolls ahead of the 2024 general election. Lawmakers, Weiland disagree on ‘advice’ from LRC "Today, 273 noncitizens are being removed from the South Dakota voter roll. The removal is being executed by the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office (SOS). This discovery was part of a review to ensure the integrity of South Dakota’s elections and safeguard against improper voter registration," reads the first half of the release. "The South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS) discovered the need for this correction and worked with the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to implement a fix and ensure election integrity," the release said. Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson says she is confident that the word noncitizens in the release meant non-U.S. citizens. Anderson says she reached out to the state about the possibility of noncitizens on the rolls on August 29 due to concerns that other states were finding noncitizens registered. She said at the time of the interview that she had gotten no response, however an hour later she called back to tell us she had received a list of 112 'noncitizen' voters who were registered in Minnehaha County. Minnehaha County has more than 134k registered voters as of Oct. 1, 2024. Anderson says that she is in the process of working through the 112 names using their voter ID numbers, checking for voting history and seeing if any of them have cast an absentee ballot in the 2024 election. This matters, according to Anderson, because while she says it is not necessarily a violation for a noncitizen to register to vote, it is a crime for them to actually cast a ballot. She also noted that these voters may not have intended to register, possibly making a mistake while filling out paper work. She also suggested errors could have been made by DPS as well. Anderson says she had been concerned that auditors across the state appeared not to have been given more information by DPS or the SOS, saying that even if the voters were not in their counties, they should be informed that the release does not affect them. "The state has been very bad at communicating with auditors," Anderson said. Anderson also said she had demanded a list of the voters who were removed from voter rolls, and says it is important that auditors receive the information, as absentee voting is already underway. ACLU calls for "greater transparency" In the wake of the announcement from the state, the ACLU has demanded reinstatement of the voters purged from the rolls, arguing that the purge violates the National Voter Registration Act and "carries the weight of potentially disenfranchising naturalized U.S. citizens who are legally eligible to vote." The ACLU has requested greater transparency from the SOS' office regarding the circumstances surrounding their removal. "Instead of protecting Americans’ freedom, the state of South Dakota is using flawed and outdated data to illegally purge voters right before the 2024 Election," writes the ACLU, adding "there has been no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in elections across the country." “Each passing day restricts the options available to affected voters and unfairly denies them methods of voting that would otherwise be available to them," said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. The ACLU said there's a chance people "who "who obtained their driver’s licenses as noncitizens, subsequently became naturalized U.S. citizens and then lawfully registered to vote have unlawfully been purged from the voter rolls based on outdated information." KELOLAND News election resources Voter registration information Candidate list Absentee voting information View sample ballot Find your Legislative District KELOLAND News coverage In terms of who is handling the matter -- DPS or the SOS' office -- Anderson also expressed confusion, saying South Dakota SOS Monae Johnson had informed them that DPS was handling it. In their release, DPS says that the removal is being carried out by the SOS. Moreover, Anderson expressed a belief that while it is up to DPS to verify registration (something she would like to have the ability to do herself), she believes it is the auditor's role to maintain voter registrations in their own counties, and that the process of removing of fixing registration should be handled by the auditor. KELOLAND News reached out to the DPS to ask what role DPS plays in reviewing voter rolls and if they typically oversee the process; what the DPS definition of 'noncitizen' is (not a citizen of the U.S., or not a citizen of South Dakota); and how long these noncitizens have been registered. Reiners responded to KELOLAND's emailed questions, telling us that "questions of voter registration may be addressed to the Secretary of State's office." Responding to a follow-up question regarding DPS' role in checking the voter rolls, Reiners replied: "DPS does not examine the voter roles, that’s strictly for the SOS." KELOLAND News sought clarification on the wording of Reiners' release in which he wrote that DPS discovered the need for the correction, asking if this meant that DPS had reviewed the rolls and found the issue, or that the Secretary of State's (SOS) office had discovered it and reported it to DPS who then 'discovered' it by way of being informed of it. Reiners did not reply to this request for clarification. KELOLAND News also reached out to the SOS, asking for clarification on the process for reviewing voter rolls, whether voters are notified when they are removed, what the appeals process is for voters who feel they were improperly removed, and what the definition of a 'noncitizen' is in this context. The SOS' office has not responded to our questions at the time of publishing. County auditors have questions In an attempt to get further information on the matter, KELOLAND News reached out to a handful of county auditors across the state. We found that they knew little more than we do. We first spoke with Barb Desersa, Auditor for Tripp/Todd Counties, and Julie Bartling, Auditor for Gregory County. Both of them told KELOLAND News that they had received the release, but have not heard anything else from DPS or the SOS office. Additionally, neither auditor was sure of the release's definition of 'noncitizen' and whether that referred to someone who is a citizen of another state, or of another country. Bartling told KELOLAND News her office makes sure voters in her county are residents when they go to cast a ballot, but both she and Desersa indicated that overall verification of voters during registration falls more on the state level than the county level. Minnesota Twins partnership with Bally ends, will have games produced by MLB All of the counties overseen by Bartling and Desersa are smaller population counties, and each agreed that with only 273 noncitizen voters found, there is a chance none were found in their counties.